Fantasy Baseball Injury Update: What to do with George Kirby and Grayson Rodriguez?

Two big-name pitchers suffered injuries over the past two days. How does George Kirby's and Grayson Rodrguez's respective values change heading into the 2025 fantasy baseball season?

Seattle Mariners Starting Pitcher George Kirby | Erik Williams-Imagn Images

Over the past two days, George Kirby and Grayson Rodriguez picked up injury tags, giving early drafters shivers of buyer's remorse. Kirby was the 9th-ranked starting pitcher in the early draft season, while Rodriguez drew a backend SP3 tag in 12-team formats.

I expect Kirby to fall in drafts, but his lost value is more due to missed time than significant concerns with a long-term injury. The Seattle Mariners general manager, Justin Hollander, outlined his injury to the media earlier today. He has some inflammation that should clear up with rest, and Kirby doesn’t have any damage to his right shoulder based on his MRI.

#Mariners General Manager Justin Hollander shares an injury update on George Kirby. https://t.co/Evwi5GBVh0 pic.twitter.com/lAPmZOU42u
— Seattle Sports (@SeattleSports) March 7, 2025

Fantasy Update: Buying hurt players in fantasy sports tends to be a losing equation, but there are times when understanding a player’s timetable to return and health can be an advantage. I originally had Kirby projected for 33 starts based on his workhorse success in 2024.

I dropped him down to 28 starts, leading to him falling from 7th in my starting pitching ranking to 20th. I view him as a buying opportunity as long as there aren’t any other adverse reports about his return date (I’m expecting early May).

On Wednesday, Rodriguez suggested that his decline in spring training velocity wasn’t due to an injury. The following day, the Orioles manager reported that he was battling a triceps issue in his pitching arm. Baltimore expects him to start the season on the injured list, and Rodrguez will have a second opinion.

Grayson Rodriguez has elbow discomfort and will start the season on the IL, per @ByMattWeyrich. pic.twitter.com/AtY1KmWhkE
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) March 8, 2025

Last year, he battled a lat issue late in the season that had a “teres major” lingo in his report. The combination of the two issues, added to a slow recovery from a lat injury in 2022, paints a doom and gloom outlook with his ace potential this year.

Fantasy Update: In a recent draft in the NFBC, Rodriguez was the 235 player drafted, 130 slots lower than his early ADP (105). I’m avoiding him at all costs.

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