Can this be the year of the Pitcher [again]? As far as the Off-season and Spring Training seem to be going, I'd have to say no. It is looking more like the year of the Trainer. Or, perhaps, the year of the rebuilt pitchers testing their arms out again.The amount of injured pitchers, this early in spring Training, seems to indicate [to me anyway] that there were alot of nagging injuries last season that were treated in the off-season or just alot of pitchers who failed to keep up with their training and conditioning.
The Cardinals' Carpenter will miss at least one start, and so will the Red Sox' Beckett [although you can't blame Beckett for getting beaned by a fungo!]. The Rockies' Jimenez, the Tigers' Zumaya, and the Giants Cain are all out of action or hampered by lingering injuries. Even the Mets' are not immune to the injury bug with their closer Rodriguez going out. Seattle's Kelly has an injured elbow.
It seems prudent to have about 6 - 7 starters and 2 - 3 closers [at least on the 40 man roster] to make it through seasons like this one appears to be. Depth of the bench, flexibility on the roster, and a deep farm system are in order. Lets see how many MLB clubs use their #1 Ace on opening day. I'll bet at least half of them don't [due to injury / illness].
As a Nurse, I can see that Trend, very clearly. Good point, though!
ReplyDeleteI've seen even more pitchers [and others!] go down in the last couple of days. It looks like it's going to be a long year for the DL!
ReplyDeleteWalking wounded at best!
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