Fantasy Baseball Injury Updates: Elly De La Cruz, Dylan Cease, Konnor Griffin & Teoscar Hernandez Land on IL
The baseball gods have a cruel sense of humor, and this week they were in a particularly punishing mood. Four names worth real fantasy dollars are either on the injured list or heading there, all of them landing within a four-day window that managed to include a 20-year-old phenom, a $210 million ace, a first-round five-tool SS, and the early-season home run surprise nobody saw coming. Your roster may need attention before Tuesday's waiver deadline. Let's go.
Elly De La Cruz Hamstring Tightness: Immediate Fantasy Pause Required
Timeline, Severity, and Roster Implications
De La Cruz left Sunday's 6-4 win over the Braves with right hamstring tightness after pulling up hard rounding first base on what should have been an easy extra-base hit. The good news, such as it is, came from De La Cruz himself. The immediate feeling from the club and the 24-year-old was that he avoided a more serious injury by not trying to continue running on the play. An MRI is scheduled for Monday morning.
On Monday, the Reds announced that De La Cruz has been placed on the 10-day injured list.
The move ends his run of 276 consecutive games played. That streak matters for a specific reason beyond the feel-good narrative: the context around De La Cruz's injury history is worth understanding before you panic or overreact. Per Reds president Nick Krall, De La Cruz played through a left quad strain for the final two months of 2025 that visibly affected his range and power. He came into 2026 fully healthy for the first time in over a year, and the fact that he stopped immediately rather than playing through discomfort the way he did last summer is actually the right read on the situation. The player who played hurt in 2025 and paid for it is now the player who stopped at first base and went for an MRI. That is better news than it looks.
Do not drop him. Do not panic. Move him to your IL slot if you have one, keep an eye on Monday's MRI results, and treat him as week-to-week until the results say otherwise. The hamstring injury that derails a speed-first shortstop's fantasy season is one that gets ignored, not one that sends him immediately to the training room. De La Cruz did the smart thing, and that matters when thinking about how hamstring injuries derail early-round speed picks.
Munetaka Murakami Hamstring Strain: Power Outage at First Base
Projected Return and Replacement Options
The White Sox expect to be without Murakami until mid-June after he hurt his hamstring running to first base Friday night. Manager Will Venable indicated the assumption is a hamstring sprain, with imaging to confirm. The timing is particularly rough because Murakami had quietly become one of the most valuable fantasy assets nobody was talking about. The rookie home run leader was producing at a clip that had managers in deeper leagues fighting over him, and now the same running-to-first-base play that got Teoscar Hernandez three days earlier got him too.
The mid-June return window is realistic for a Grade 1 situation and should be treated as the floor rather than the ceiling. Hamstring injuries that occur running to first base have a way of lingering when a player returns before the muscle is fully healed, and the White Sox have no reason to rush a 24-year-old with the organization's long-term interests in mind. Miguel Vargas will likely move across the diamond, with Luisangel Acuna and Jacob Gonzalez covering the hot corner during Murakami's absence. None of those names are fantasy relevant in standard formats.
The roster move here is straightforward if painful. Slot Murakami into your IL spot, identify the best available first base option on your waiver wire, and resist the urge to sell him in a trade at a discount. A fully healthy Murakami returning in mid-June is worth waiting for. A panicked sell to the manager who has been circling him for three weeks is not.
Dylan Cease Left Hamstring Strain: Outlook After 15-Day IL Placement
Severity Assessment and Rotation Impact
Blue Jays right-hander Dylan Cease was placed on the 15-day injured list after suffering a left hamstring strain. Cease left last Sunday's loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the fifth inning after suffering the injury, which is being described as mild. Manager John Schneider said: "Mild is the key word, I think, so hopefully it's not too long. He was encouraged with how he felt after the MRI showed just a mild-to-moderate strain."
The updates since have been genuinely encouraging. Cease threw a bullpen session of around 25-30 pitches on Saturday in Baltimore, and the next step will be either another bullpen or facing hitters, depending on how he responds. For a pitcher who had made at least 30 starts in each of the past five seasons, the impulse to push through this and get back on the mound is real, and so is the risk. The Blue Jays are without four other rotation pieces already this season. They need Cease healthy for the long haul far more than they need him back in two weeks on a compromised hamstring.
Hold him everywhere. The early return timeline is favorable enough that you should not be giving him away in trades, and his 3.05 ERA and AL-leading 92 strikeouts in 62 innings make him a top-12 starter when healthy. A two-to-three week absence at this stage of the season is something you absorb by streaming. Selling low on Cease right now is exactly what the people who want to acquire him are hoping you do.
Konnor Griffin Forearm Strain: Prospect Value Holds Despite Throwing Restriction
Timeline and Long-Term Fantasy Ceiling
Griffin was placed on the injured list after dealing with a flexor strain in his right forearm. Pirates GM Ben Cherington said Griffin was progressing well from the strain and was playing catch, but the team targeted Sunday as the day to see whether he could play shortstop. They expect it to be a short-term stay.
Griffin in May hit .301 with a .359 on-base percentage, .452 slugging percentage, nine extra-base hits and 19 runs. The timing is rough, but the nature of the injury is not. A low-grade flexor strain that allows hitting and restricts only throwing is about as favorable a forearm injury as a 20-year-old shortstop can have. The forearm injury that ends careers or triggers the Tommy John conversation involves the UCL, not the flexor group. This one does not. The reason to be watchful here is not the diagnosis but the age: young players with flexor strains occasionally see those strains progress if they return too soon. The Pirates are being careful, which is the right call, and there is no indication of anything more serious underneath.
In dynasty leagues, nothing about this injury changes Griffin's ceiling. In redraft, Jared Triolo will likely get the majority of the playing time at shortstop during the absence, which is a thin replacement at best. Monitor official updates closely from the Pirates' next series in Houston.
Three More Injury Situations to Watch
Teoscar Hernandez, Dodgers. Hernandez was officially placed on the 10-day injured list with a Grade 1 left hamstring strain and said he expects to miss approximately one month. He does not want to rush his recovery and risk making his hamstring a lingering issue, noting that last season a groin injury that he returned from too quickly affected his performance for months afterward. He was hitting .276 with a 122 wRC+ before the injury. Ryan Ward was called up from Triple-A Oklahoma City to fill in. Plan for late June at the earliest.
Enrique Hernandez, Dodgers. Hernandez suffered what Dodgers manager Dave Roberts described as a "significant tear" in his oblique, an injury that will keep him out for several weeks, if not months. Not a standard-league concern, but worth noting that the Dodgers now have both Hernandez outfielders unavailable simultaneously, which creates downstream lineup and roster effects for everyone who owns Dodgers hitters.
Casey Mize, Tigers. Mize was placed on the 15-day IL with right adductor inflammation. He was not a top-end fantasy asset but was a serviceable streaming option in deep leagues. The Tigers rotation is now thin enough that anyone needing a two-start streamer should look elsewhere this week.
The MRI results for De La Cruz arrive Monday and deserve your full attention before Tuesday's waiver deadline.
Fantasy Baseball Injury Update Questions, Answered
How long will Elly De La Cruz be out with his hamstring injury?
MRI results are due Monday, but the optimistic sign is that De La Cruz stopped at first base instead of playing hero ball the way he did with his quad in 2025, so treat him as week-to-week and breathe into a paper bag until the results come in.
Is Munetaka Murakami out until mid-June with his hamstring strain?
Mid-June is the working assumption after he hurt himself running to first base Friday, which is the baseball injury equivalent of pulling a muscle getting out of bed, and the White Sox have no reason to rush him back.
What is Dylan Cease's fantasy baseball outlook after his IL placement?
He threw a 25-to-30 pitch bullpen Saturday and the Blue Jays are calling it mild-to-moderate, so hold him everywhere and ignore whatever lowball trade offer just landed in your chat.
How does Konnor Griffin's forearm strain affect his fantasy value?
It is a flexor muscle strain, not a UCL issue, he can still hit and DH, and the Pirates expect a short stay, so dynasty managers can exhale while redraft managers quietly stream a shortstop for two weeks and move on.
What fantasy baseball waiver wire moves should I make after these injuries?
Grab a first baseman for Murakami, a streamer for Cease, find shortstop depth for Griffin, and do not touch De La Cruz's roster spot until the MRI tells you something you do not want to hear.
Are these fantasy baseball injuries trending or long-term concerns?
Three of the four look like short-to-medium absences that resolve by mid-June, which is either reassuring or the universe setting you up for a cruel plot twist depending on how your season has gone so far.
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This story was originally published June 1, 2026 at 12:16 PM.