MLB Fantasy Baseball: Should You Add Brian Matusz?

Ryan LesterMay 13, 2011

Brian Matusz has been sidelined all year with an intercostal strain, which is a painful condition when you strain the muscles that are attached to your ribs so your lungs can't expand and contract when you breathe.

That sounds about as enjoyable as taking a Aroldis Chapman fastball to the kneecap.

He is set to make a rehab start on Monday for Single-A+ Frederick on Monday. He will then make a second start for Triple-A Norfolk. If he avoids any setbacks, he could be back with the Orioles by the end of the month.

If he is available in your fantasy league, should you stash him?

The fourth overall pick in the 2008 amateur draft zipped through the Orioles farm system, skipping Triple-A altogether. He went 11-2 with a 1.91 ERA in 19 minor league starts. He went 5-2 with a 4.63 in his cup of coffee with the O’s in 2009. Matusz went 2-1 with a 4.40 ERA in April before falling on hard times. He went 1-10 in May, June, and July with a 5.86 ERA.

Matusz rebounded big time going 7-1 with a 2.18 ERA to close the season out. Finally he was living up to expectations.

His dominating finish made him a popular choice in fantasy drafts, but his injury sucked the air out of the optimism balloon. Don’t expect him to pick right up where he left off, but with two successful rehab starts, you can start putting air back into that balloon.

Brian is owned in just 44 percent of Yahoo! and 39.8 percent of ESPN leagues. If you have some dead weight on your roster, why not take a chance on somebody with big time potential?