I've abandoned the "realistic" approach. While some games are better than others, they all will have too many "holes in their game" (so to speak). It's a futile cycle we endure every year and now more so because the fools are being conned in droves to buy a "virtual" edge for the online nonsense. So most of the development time is spent figuring out the proper level of manipulation (too little-not maximizing revenue, too much-people boycott).
For The Show, I start with the default roster and manually injure the players who didn't make it to Spring Training. I do my best to estimate the possible duration of their injury, and then leave it up to the sim-engine to do the rest.
Yes, it's a reality/fantasy mix, but trying for pure reality with the current state of sports gaming, will always end in disappointment. And it's actually kind of fun because there's no expectation to follow reality's path. It's an alternate universe based in reality. I think that's the best you can do at this point.
The Show is actually pretty good for this approach, due to their face-editor. Not only do they try to give each player his own face, they allow you to edit the generically made ones.
In my current Franchise, as the Mets, I have a promising young 2B who happens to wear his hair like Rich Vaughn (Wild Thing). So it actually makes for an interesting story line because I can change it if I so desire.
Anyway, I think if you want to play this year, you're going to have to compromise in some way. For me the game is fun if I let go of expecting "exactness" and have a beer. Cheers