Fantasy baseball injury impact: How to replace Zack Greinke

Zack Greinke could miss a few months after fracturing his left collarbone in a brawl with Carlos Quentin.

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Zack Greinke and Carlos Quentin have a bit of a history, dating back to when both were playing in the AL Central. When Greinke was with the Royals and Quentin was roaming the outfield for the White Sox, Greinke hit Quentin twice. While Quentin is turning into a modern-day Craig Biggio (Quentin led the league in HBPs last year despite playing just 86 games), there was still no love lost between Quentin and Greinke. Therefore, it came as little surprise when Quentin charged the mound after being hit by Greinke on Thursday night.

What was surprising was the news most fantasy owners woke up to on Friday.

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Greinke suffered a broken collarbone in the fracas, likely right off the bat when he and Quentin smashed their shoulders into one another like defensive backs refusing to wrap up a ball carrier. Greinke is slated to see a specialist Friday, but the Dodgers have yet to set a timetable for his return.

Fantasy owners looking for some help with Greinke on the shelf may want to turn their eyes to his old team and consider the Brewers' Marco Estrada. Available in 26 percent of Yahoo! leagues and 28 percent of ESPN leagues, Estrada has 14 strikeouts in 12 innings this season and was a favorite sleeper among fantasy experts heading into the season. Greinke's teammate Hyun-Jin Ryu is also a good option, and is available in about 40 percent of Yahoo! leagues and 20 percent of ESPN leagues. In 12.2 innings this year, Ryu has posted a 2.13 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 11 strikeouts.

Chris Capuano and the currently disabled Ted Lilly are the candidates to replace Greinke in the Dodgers' rotation. Both have high-strikeout potential, and whichever one of them ends up taking Greinke's place is worth adding in deeper mixed leagues. The bet here is that Capuano, who fanned 162 batters in 198.1 innings last year, slides into the rotation.