There is a different kind of pitcher’s duel going on across Major League Baseball, and it might decide the season.
Throughout the majors, there is a relatively typical level of injuries occurring to the arms and other bodily parts of the men who hurl fire and fling spin from the mound. Nothing particularly novel or noteworthy.
Except, and here’s the rub (hopefully from a trained massage therapist with a tub of deep heat next to them), there is a coincidental glut of ailments befalling big-time players on the kind of big-time teams that are either topping the standings or figure to get involved in the postseason mix once we approach fall.
How those misfortunes are handled, either through recovery or innovative Plan B, C and Ds, seems certain to have a telling impact on the fate of the various title-chasing hopefuls, given how laser-guided flame is about the most valuable currency imaginable once elimination time hits.
The Tampa Bay Rays have been the most effective team in baseball to this point in the campaign, streaking out to a spectacular start and holding firm as the grueling grind of the middle months plods forward. Yet the Rays reached 54-27 heading into Tuesday’s clash with the Arizona Diamondbacks despite losing starters Drew Rasmussen to a flexor tendon issue that will rule him out for months and Jeffrey Springs to Tommy John surgery, after both had begun the year superbly. Tampa Bay starts a series against the Seattle Mariners later this week, with Saturday’s clash slated for national television (7:15 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app).
When Rays ace Shane McClanahan exited his most recent start with back soreness but it later appeared he would not miss significant time, the relief from manager Kevin Cash was palpable.
“Encouraged by that,” Cash told reporters, without a theatrical mop of the brow, but you still got the point. “Happy with that.”
McClanahan has been a rock so far, not missing a scheduled start and compiling an MLB-best 11 wins. Despite the Rays’ balanced strength (on a shoestring budget) without him, they’d surely be hurting, pun unfortunately intended.
According to the New York Post, there were 167 injured-list placements for MLB pitchers through the first 86 days of the season, compared to 183 at the same point in 2022, 218 in 2021 and 162 in 2019. Since the start of spring training through Wednesday last week, 288 pitchers had been listed, as opposed to 277 last year, 306 the year before, and 247 in 2019. Stare too long at all those numbers and they blur, but the reality is that not all pitching injuries are created equal, especially if it is one or more of your studs landing themselves in front of the doctor. When your starters can’t start, it matters.
For the Los Angeles Dodgers, Clayton Kershaw has been holding it down at age 35, but three other members of the season-opening rotation are mid-layoff — Julio Urias, Noah Syndergaard and Dustin May, who is hoping to avoid a second surgery. Walker Buehler, who would have been among the starters, will be out most of the year.
“It’s not what we expected,” manager Dave Roberts said. “But that doesn’t really matter. The only way to look at it is, you’ve got to embrace this opportunity for (other) guys.”
In Atlanta, the National League-best Braves have used 12 different starters and have mostly been without stars Kyle Wright, who won 21 games last year, and Max Fried, who matched that number a year after pitching a Game 6 beauty to help clinch the 2021 World Series.
Meanwhile, the AL West-leading Texas Rangers recently lost two-time Cy Young winner Jacob DeGrom for the year, though if the ferocity of the team’s bats stays its current level, it may take a while to notice any real drop-off.
Texas Rangers’ Jacob deGrom will undergo Tommy John for the second time in his career
The Cincinnati Reds, fresh off a 12-game win streak, added young star Hunter Greene to the injured list for the second time this season. The New York Mets lost Justin Verlander for a month and have yet to see any action from veteran lefty Jose Quintana, and will need some improvement to turn their big spending into a postseason position.
In the pinstriped portion of New York, Frankie Montas and Carlos Rodon have not pitched for the Yankees and Nestor Cortes (shoulder) went down in early June. To compound matters, captain and slugger extraordinaire Aaron Judge has a torn toe ligament, with an undetermined schedule for his return.
“No one has any idea how to prevent pitcher injuries — any team that tells you they know is lying,” FOX Sports MLB analyst Jake Mintz told me. “It is the big unsolved thing in baseball — the teams who can mitigate it best will have a big advantage. “The teams who can develop an assembly line, and can just call the Triple-A roster and say ‘we need someone major-league-ready, they have a huge edge when it comes to staying consistent when things like this happen.'”
It may be a little early to start thinking about how good the postseason might be. Either way, the discussion is already tilting in a certain direction, with who is available likely to become an ongoing talking point.
The ability to chew up innings, to get key outs, to add an element of confidence when looking at the schedule — those are all things that managers crave. Looking at your roster and having it fully stocked and healthy; that’s the closest thing to managerial love.
But, as we all find out at some time, love hurts. And there’s some hurting going on right now.
