Daniel Murphy is one of the most valuable assets at second base in fantasy baseball, and when healthy, he can fill up the stat sheet. However, his status is in question as he recovers from microfracture surgery on his knee last October.

The Washington Nationals say Murphy is looking unlikely for Opening Day, and there is still no timeline for when he will appear in a spring training game. Murphy is a veteran, so even if he misses most of spring training, it likely wouldn't take him long to get his timing back and be ready for game action.

That would be good news for the Nats and potential fantasy owners. Last season, Murphy continued as one of the best pure hitters in the game, hitting .322/.384/.543 with 23 homers, 94 runs scored, 93 RBIs and a wRC+ of 136. He's currently being taken 6th overall at second base in the 5th round of 12-team leagues, and we project he'll be the fourth-best fantasy performer at second base in 2018, forecasting him to hit .302 with 22 homers, 78 runs and 86 RBIs.