Monday, April 11, 2011

Ryan Zimmerman to go on the 15-day disabled list

The Washington Nationals will place third baseman Ryan Zimmerman on the 15-day disabled list (DL), per Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post.

Zimmerman, who strained his oblique on Saturday, sat out of Sunday's game and would be eligible to return as early as April 24th.

However, Kilgore notes that the Nationals "hope" that Zimmerman will be able to return in three weeks.

With Zimmerman out, Alex Cora, who started Saturday, and Jerry Hairston will split time at third base. Meanwhile, Jayson Werth is expected to move into Zimmerman's third spot within the batting order.

In the three seasons from 2008 to 2010, Zimmerman missed a combined total of 81 games.

With two of the top three fantasy third basemen (Zimmerman and Tampa Bay's Evan Longoria) on the DL, one player to consider adding is Detroit's Jhonny Peralta, who's eligible at third base and shortstop.

Through nine games, Peralta is hitting .379, but he's a career .264 hitter that hit above .276 only once.

That said, Peralta, who is owned in only 30 percent of Yahoo! leagues and 46 percent of ESPN leagues, has driven in 80-plus runs in each of the past three seasons.