Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire: Replacements for Jose Ramirez in Week 13

Thriving in Fantasy Baseball is as often about surviving when injuries and attrition inevitably hit, and Fantasy players got hit by another huge injury this weekend when Jose Ramirez broke a bone in his left hand Saturday. Ramirez suffered the injury, a fractured left hamate bone, during the fifth inning of Saturday's game while swinging, and he was placed on the 10-day IL Sunday with no official timetable for his return.

But this is a fairly common injury, so we can get a sense of how long Ramirez is likely to miss – and his own history actually gives us a sense. In 2019, Ramirez suffered a fractured hamate in his other hand and missed just over four weeks before returning. Of course, that was right around the end of the season, with the Guardians in the middle of a playoff push with a hard deadline, so there was more inherent pressure to get back – especially since he would have had an entire offseason to recover if something went wrong.

The average return to play timetable for a hamate bone fracture among hitters is around seven weeks, so that would seem like a more likely timetable, with a couple of weeks of butter on either side. That would put Ramirez out until around the All-Star break, at least, and potentially through the start of August. We can look at a few other high-profile examples of this injury this season to highlight that, too:

- Corbin Carroll : Missed 28 days - Andrew Vaughn : Missed 35 days - Francisco Lindor : Missed 34 days - Jackson Holliday : Missed 66 days

It's worth noting that Lindor and Carroll are both counting to the day they returned to the spring lineup, so if their injuries had happened in the regular season, you could probably add at least a few days for a rehab assignment. And Holliday returned for his rehab assignment long before 66 days, but had multiple setbacks along the way – hey, that'll happen sometimes, too! Every injury is different, and recovery doesn't always go smoothly, so while there are some outcomes where Ramirez is back even before the All-Star break, his absence could also stretch well into August.

Either way, you're going to be short at third base for the foreseeable future, whether that's just four weeks or double that. Here's who you could look to target on the waiver-wire to replace Ramirez this week:

- Noelvi Marte , Reds (50%) – Marte didn't start his first game back from Triple-A, but he has started seven of nine since, and I don't think they can justify taking him out of the lineup now that he has homered in three straight games as of Sunday. In total he has gone 8 for 26 with three homers, three steals, and just a 14% strikeout rate since returning from Triple-A – where he was hitting .369/.409/.575 with eight homers and nine steals in 40 games. The Reds have seemingly soured on Marte given his inconsistent play, but he also showed how dynamic he can be when he is right last season, and this is a team that pretty desperately wants to make the playoffs, so I think he should play as long as he remains hot. After this weekend, I think he has to be viewed as the top target to replace Jose Ramirez (and he's worth adding in all leagues if you need an outfielder, too). - Curtis Mead , Nationals (54%) – Mead has been productive all season, but he wasn't really playing against righties much earlier, so there was little reason to take note. But after starting just six of the first 34 games against righties through May 19, he has started 12 of 16 since and has multiple plate appearances in three of the four he didn't start, so I think we can basically treat him like an everyday player. And he's been excellent, putting up a 46-homer pace in his past 21 games while hitting .234/.342/.468 for the season. You won't get much speed from Mead to replace Ramirez, but can still be a very useful Fantasy option. - Royce Lewis , Twins (50%) – Lewis was dominant in his time after being demoted to Triple-A, and he has mostly kept it up since coming back to the majors, homering three times in his past four games and hitting 10 for 26 with only four strikeouts in 29 plate appearances since his return. He went down to the minors and worked on his batting stance and has been hitting the ball harder while making more contact since coming back. It's a small sample size, but the Twins have also been moving Lewis around, and he has already gained 1B eligibility and needs three more appearances to add 2B, too. It's a nice little bonus for a guy who has definitely been a difference maker in the past and could be one again now. - Andrew Vaughn, Brewers (36%)* – I think Vaughn is just a really good hitter now. Unfortunately, he isn't quite an everyday player for the Brewers right now – and he isn't even third-base eligible, so you might be wondering why he's included here. Well, with Jake Bauers emerging as a key cog and Vaughn still producing, the Brewers are trying to find ways to get both of them into the lineup. That usually means Bauers moving to the outfield, but lately we have seen Vaughn make a few appearances at third base. He hasn't started a game there yet, but if they decide he can handle the position on at least a part-time basis, that could get him in the lineup. It's something to keep in mind with Vaughn, even if it isn't enough to totally change how we view him for Fantasy yet. - Jordan Lawlar , Diamondbacks (40%) – The Diamondbacks have some playing time logjams to sort out, and as a result, Lawlar only started two of three games since his return from the IL – including sitting out Saturday despite going 2 for 4 with two RBI and two steals Friday. That situation could be frustrating as the D-Backs sort through multiple young options in the outfield. That'll hold Lawlar back, but he certainly has the potential still to emerge as the best of those options if he hits well enough. He was showing some signs of life before suffering a fractured wrist, and he has a very Fantasy-friendly skill set if he does figure it out – and Lawlar is still somehow just 23, despite making his debut four seasons ago.

Before we get to the rest of this week's waiver-wire targets, it's worth noting that Vinnie Paquantino had surgery for the same ailment as Ramirez and will likely be facing a similar timetable to return. We'll get to the top targets at first base in due time, though if you hadn't at least already started considering replacing Pasquantino, you might view this as a blessing in disguise. It's worth keeping in mind that Vaughn and Lewis are both first-base eligible if you are looking for a Pasquantino replacement, too.

Here's who else we're looking to add ahead of Week 13:

Week 13 Waiver Targets

Catcher

Dalton Rushing , Dodgers (63%)

Life finds a way. Rushing looked like one of the great "what-ifs" in Fantasy when he got off to a red-hot start to the season, because he still found himself fighting for scraps in the Dodgers lineup. However, with Will Smith on the IL, Rushing finally has some runway to play everyday, and he should at least be a viable starting option in any format for as long as Smith's neck keeps him out. Rushing has slowed down considerably since April overall, but he's looked better in June and could continue to benefit from more regular playing time.

Deep league option:  Joe Mack , Marlins (15%) – It took some time for him to figure it out, but Mack is looking like he belongs at the plate lately. He homered for the second time in 10 games Sunday and is sporting a .313/.371/.531 line in June. He isn't that good, obviously, but his expected wOBA over the past 50 plate appearances before Sunday's homer was up to .344, so it's not entirely a fluke, either. There's some pop here that could make him useful for two-catcher leagues if he can keep the average around .250 or better.

First Base

Bryce Eldridge , Giants (72%)

I've written a ton about Eldridge over the past week or so because he just refuses to slow down. He went deep yet again Friday, his third straight game with a homer, and now suddenly has five in 31 games – a 26-homer pace that is, if not quite elite, at least enough with everything else he's doing well right now. That includes just a 21% strikeout rate, complete with very solid underlying plate discipline metrics that make it look at least non-flukey, if not totally sustainable. Eldridge is a high-end prospect putting up a .310 expected batting average and .560 expected slugging percentage, and you should add him in all leagues just in case we're seeing a Nick Kurtz-esque breakout.

Deep league option:  Blaze Jordan , Cardinals (19%) – Jordan's profile is a mark against the theory of nominative determinism, as he is a burly slugging type rather than the slap-hitter his name would suggest. Nonetheless, he's always had the ability to hit the ball hard without sacrificing much contact, and he hit a big homer in just his second MLB game Saturday and has struck out just twice in his first three games combined. He isn't much of a prospect anymore, but he only needs three more appearances to add third eligibility and is at least worth a look in deeper leagues for his power potential.

Second Base

Sam Antonacci , White Sox (56%)

Second base has been a surprisingly strong position this season, so Antonacci is just the No. 23 2B in Roto leagues since his debut despite ranking as a top-130 player overall in that span. In part, I think that's because he was batting lower in the lineup and wasn't running much early on, because he's a top-100 overall player since May 1, when he started hitting leadoff primarily and started running more. You won't get much power from Antonacci, but I think he's at least a solid contributor in batting average, runs, and steals, and might just be a standout across all three – he's hitting .295 with a 114-run, 39-steal pace since May 1.

Deep league option:  Jacob Gonzalez , White Sox (21%) – Gonzalez hasn't exactly set the world on fire since getting called up, with just one homer and two multi-hit games in 11 games. But he was hitting .317/.419/.668 prior to his promotion, so that kind of upside is still worth chasing in deeper leagues where you might need power.

Shortstop

Colt Emerson , Mariners (68%)

There are some concerning signs in the underlying data, but Emerson is a 20-year-old with an .876 OPS in his first 23 MLB games, so let's not miss the forest for the trees here. He has struggled to make contact and his raw power has been more of the "pretty good for a 20-year-old" than "truly plus." But he's doing a good job of elevating the ball to the pull side to help maximize his power, and it's worth keeping in mind that a player this young who is holding his own already seems like a good bet to just keep getting better. He homered twice this weekend, so we might already be seeing that.

Deep league option:   Kaelen Culpepper , Twins (19%) – Even with Lewis looking great since his promotion, the Twins still seem adamant about keeping shortstop open for Culpepper's eventual promotion. With Brooks Lee having moved to third base on a full-time basis, it's just a question of when the Twins determine Culpepper is ready to take over for the underwhelming Tristan Gray/Orlando Arcia combo. With 14 homers, 15 steals, and .875 OPS in his first 61 games at Triple-A, it doesn't seem like there's much left for Culpepper to prove, which is why Scott White has Culpepper as the No. 2 prospect to stash in his most recent Prospects Report column .

Another deep-league target:  Cooper Pratt , Brewers (9%) – When Pratt signed a surprisingly large extension a few weeks ago, we figured it was only a matter of time before he joined the Brewers, and now it's happening. He's viewed as a glove-first prospect who hasn't quite figured it out on the offensive side of things, and he makes it to the majors despite a strong approach to the plate, with 37 strikeouts to 34 walks in 217 plate appearances, but there just isn't much juice in his bat otherwise – his 86.7 mph average exit vel

_Originally reported by [CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/news/week-13-fantasy-baseball-waiver-wire-jose-ramirez-injury/)._