The last seven days of the MLB season were, quite frankly, pretty insane. There was a plethora of injuries, players nearing returns from ailments of their own and, of course, one massive brawl out in Cleveland. These “transactions,” if you would, are surely affecting fantasy teams across the landscape at a critical time.

Just last week alone, we lost the following players that can be considered fantasy relevant to debilitating injuries:

• Carlos Rodon (hamstring): 15-day IL
• Josh Jung (left hand): Out minimum of six weeks
• Tyler Glasnow (back): day-to-day
• Shane McClanahan (left arm): Out indefinitely
• Ketel Marte (quad): day-to-day
• Taylor Ward (face): 60-day IL
• Byron Buxton (hamstring): 10-day IL
• Starling Marte (groin): 10-day IL
• Anthony Rizzo (concussion): Seven-day IL
• Marcus Stroman (hip): 15-day IL
• Josh Naylor (oblique): 10-day IL
• Tim Anderson (left arm/pending suspension): day-to-day
• Jake Fraley (left foot): 10-day IL

The August injury bug must be a real thing because this is an absolutely brutal and untimely list. And the cherry on top is that Guardians’ superstar 3B Jose Ramirez is also expected to be suspended for three games following last week’s brawl with Tim Anderson.

Playoffs are just around the corner for redraft and season-long formats, while most MLB Best Ball leagues will commence at the conclusion of this week. While Best Ballers’ fates lay in the hands of the fantasy gods, season-long players still have an outside chance to take advantage of recent moves.

Luckily, for as many wild injuries that occurred last week, there are also several players working their way back right now that should return to MLB lineups in the coming days. In this week’s edition of the MLB Depth Chart Review, we will take a look at some of those players.

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Fantasy Baseball Depth Chart Review

Chris Sale (SP – BOS)

One of the most injury-prone players across the MLB over the last few years, Chris Sale, is (once again) seemingly healthy and should return to the Boston rotation on Friday. Though he is yet to be officially activated from the 60-day IL, all indications are that it will occur in the next few days.

Boston desperately needs productive pitching if they want to seriously contend for one of the final playoff spots in the American League, and that will all start with the capabilities of their former ace. Sale made two rehab starts with the Triple-A WooSox, his most recent in which he hurled 4 1/3 scoreless innings while compiling seven strikeouts.

Sale will almost certainly have his workload monitored for his first few starts back, as he has proven to be quite fragile dating back to his Chicago days. Nevertheless, if he is available on waiver wires from prior owners that gave up on him, now would be the time to pounce. He still has enough prowess to provide value down the line, which is emphasized by his strong 71:15 K:BB ratio across 59.0 innings before this most recent affliction.

Royce Lewis (SS – MIN)

The Twins’ impressive young shortstop, Royce Lewis, has been sidelined since July 1 with an oblique injury. He is now officially set to begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A St. Paul and could be back in the Big Leagues in short order.

Prior to his injury, Lewis was slashing a glistening .326/.354/.474 and was looking like the version of himself that had previously equated to being the top prospect in the Minnesota organization. Now, with the aforementioned Byron Buxton going down to injury, Lewis’s pending return could not be timelier. He will have an immediate opportunity to slide into the DH role for the Twins if they decide to preserve his health and go in that direction.

Minnesota currently sits at the top of the AL Central and will need to compete for the remainder of the regular season to fend off the ever-feisty Guardians. Lewis will likely be expected to assist the Twins in retaining that goal. Though he may be provided more rest days, given his already extensive injury history, his bat is worthy of a starting spot in fantasy lineups when active.

Oneil Cruz (SS – PIT)

I would rather get ahead of this one now than simply address Oneil Cruz’s rest-of-season prospects as his return nears. Cruz, who suffered a brutal leg injury back in April, still has several hurdles to clear before returning to the Pirates’ lineup, but his progress in recent days is notable.

Pirates’ GM Ben Cherington noted that Cruz should play in games again this season, and that timeframe could be approaching sooner than later. He could begin a rehab assignment within the next few weeks, providing the chance at a late-August full-throttle return.

Cruz has been playing catch up to 150 feet and has been fielding ground balls effectively over the last number of days. His next major step will obviously be taking live batting practice, and that should be occurring quite soon. If all goes well there, expect Cruz to take that next step in the rehab in short order.

Before going down, the 24-year-old had gone 8-for-32 (.250) with one home run, seven walks, and three stolen bases across just nine games played. There could be some concern that Pittsburgh will be more cautious with Cruz now that they’ve fallen completely out of playoff contention. However, when and if Cruz does return to the lineup, he would immediately provide huge fantasy boosts as a five-tool athlete capable of contributing in every meaningful department.

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