Like many other positions, left field has been affected by injuries. Some of the players on the top twenty list would likely be higher if they had not suffered through nagging injuries. Others didn’t even make the top twenty in spite of being very highly ranked. This is where we get to the 50,000 pound elephant in the room.

Ryan Braun was not included in the top 20 even though he likely would have qualified at this point. The primary reason is that we don’t expect him to be in the top 20 at the end of the season and he does nothing for your fantasy team unless you play in keeper or dynasty leagues. He is not the only player that shot his value in the foot with PEDs. If anything, 2013 might represent the kind of player he would be without the help of PEDs. He’s battled injuries this year that he hasn’t in the past and while he hasn’t tanked overall, he hasn’t been the MVP level player he was in the past.

Brett Gardner was affected by injuries as well, but more indirectly. He moved to center field to make up for the injuries that Curtis Granderson suffered. While not a big name, Gardner would qualify for the top 20 if we kept him in left field. Instead, he qualifies in center.

Josh Willingham is probably a bigger name than Gardner and he also misses the list. He hit his 11th home run recently and could get up to 20 if he stays healthy from here on out. However, most owners were expecting more when they drafted him. Like many of the players in the top 20, it wasn’t one big injury, but a series of injuries.

If we count Ryan Braun and Josh Willingham as preseason top 100 players then we see that left field had eight top 100 players. In a standard ten team league, you would have ten regulars from each outfield position. Melky Cabrera came close to finishing in the top 100 before the season (although he probably shouldn’t have). This makes left field the strongest position on the diamond in terms of perceived fantasy value.

Carlos Gonzalez and Justin Upton are really the only two preseason favorites to live up to their advanced billing. That means more championships were lost here than probably any other position. In particular, Ryan Braun owners quickly went in the tank when he failed to live up to his chemically enhanced 2011 and 2012 campaigns.

Braun and Cabrera in particular highlight an important lesson in the future. Pay attention to this steroid stuff. I know it’s a pain in the rump, but players that have those rumors swirling around them always seem to fall back to earth eventually. It will be interesting to see what the rest of the Biogenesis crowd does when they come back from suspension.