Fantasy Baseball: Ranking the top 35 IL stashes in light of Aaron Judge's oblique injury, Austin Meadows' sprained thumb

While a whole host of players landed on the IL this weekend, others are nearing a return. Scott White helps Fantasy players prioritize their precious few spots.

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If you had managed to avoid the injury bug up until this weekend, devoting your IL spots to known preseason casualties like Aaron Hicks, Scooter Gennett and Jimmy Nelson, chances are your luck finally ran out.

Jacob deGrom, Aaron Judge, Jean Segura, Starling Marte, Austin Meadows, Harrison Bader, Odubel Herrera, Michael Wacha, Lucas Giolito and Nathan Eovaldi were just a few of the additions to baseball's wounded.

Some of the injuries don't amount to much — the kind that might not have landed a player on the IL if it was still a 15-day minimum instead of 10. The deGrom elbow fakeout, the Segura hamstring strain and, really, all of the hamstring strains (Bader, Herrera, Giolito and Scott Kingery) sound like they'll be minimum stays, which is of course good news. It does mean, though, that any bench spots freed up by their absences will be short-lived.

The most concerning of the new injuries is most certainly Judge, who suffered what's being described as a "pretty significant' oblique strain. The Yankees haven't offered a timetable, but you should anticipate a couple months, with a possibility of setbacks along the way. A 6-8 week timetable would be on the optimistic side.

It's just the latest in what has been a merciless assault on the Yankees roster, but it happened with both Gary Sanchez (strained calf) and Giancarlo Stanton (strained biceps) on the verge of returning. So there may be mercy after all.

Others like Blake Snell, Mike Foltynewicz, Rich Hill and Tyler Skaggs are expected back within the next week, and of course timetable factors into these IL stash rankings. It's not the No. 1 criterion, though, given that a player returning from the IL presents its own roster complications.

Here are the three considerations for these rankings, in order or priority:

1. How good is the player?
2. What's the timetable?
3. How likely is the injury to impact his performance?

Of course, there's a possibility you may have more injured players than you have IL spots, and it's not always worth keeping the extras on your bench. I will say that the top 19 here are all pretty close to must-stash for me, but if you play in something like a 10-team league, you may have to be more exclusive.

Top IL stashes

1	Jacob deGrom New York Mets SP
elbow discomfort
2	Blake Snell Tampa Bay Rays SP
fractured toe
3	Gary Sanchez New York Yankees C
strained calf
4	Trea Turner Washington Nationals SS
fractured finger
5	Giancarlo Stanton New York Yankees LF
strained biceps
6	Aaron Judge New York Yankees RF
strained oblique
7	Daniel Murphy Colorado Rockies 1B
fractured finger
8	Jean Segura Philadelphia Phillies SS
strained hamstring
9	Starling Marte Pittsburgh Pirates CF
abdominal wall bruise
10	Austin Meadows Tampa Bay Rays RF
sprained thumb
11	Mike Foltynewicz Atlanta Braves SP
elbow discomfort
12	Matt Olson Oakland Athletics 1B
fractured thumb
13	Gregory Polanco Pittsburgh Pirates RF
torn shoulder labrum
14	Mike Clevinger Cleveland Indians SP
strained back
15	Luis Severino New York Yankees SP
rotator cuff inflammation
16	Aaron Hicks New York Yankees CF
back discomfort
17	Scooter Gennett Cincinnati Reds 2B
strained groin
18	Miguel Andujar New York Yankees 3B
torn shoulder labrum
19	Rich Hill Los Angeles Dodgers SP
sprained knee
20	Rougned Odor Texas Rangers 2B
sprained knee
21	Kyle Freeland Colorado Rockies SP
blister
22	Justin Upton Los Angeles Angels LF
turf toe
23	Didi Gregorius New York Yankees SS
Tommy John surgery
24	Jon Lester Chicago Cubs SP
strained hamstring
25	Tyler Skaggs Los Angeles Angels SP
sprained ankle
26	Shohei Ohtani Los Angeles Angels SP
Tommy John surgery
27	Carlos Martinez St. Louis Cardinals SP
shoulder inflammation
28	Jimmy Nelson Milwaukee Brewers SP
torn rotator cuff
29	Yoenis Cespedes New York Mets CF
heel surgery
30	Harrison Bader St. Louis Cardinals CF
strained hamstring
31	Odubel Herrera Philadelphia Phillies CF
strained hamstring
32	Jed Lowrie New York Mets 3B
sprained knee
33	Miguel Sano Minnesota Twins 3B
heel laceration
34	Alex Wood Cincinnati Reds SP
back spasms
35	Andrew Heaney Los Angeles Angels SP
elbow discomfort