MLB Injuries: 5 teams ravaged by the bug in Spring Training
Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports
This year’s Spring Training began with a ton of hope spread throughout each of the 30 Major League teams. But MLB injuries always seem to creep up on a few clubs prematurely every season.
The New York Mets, equipped with the return of their young stars, looked to put out a legitimate starting rotation that could challenge the rest of the National League.
Kansas City brought in a recovering former Braves starter to help replace the departure of their former ace, and look to perpetuate the presence of a powerhouse bullpen.
The Texas Rangers carried built excitement in the desire to finally field a completely healthy team once again, and return to the top in a stacked AL West division.
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The Phillies decided to hold onto their veteran starter’s in a selfish market where many believed the Phillies should have traded them away to begin a long, tenuous rebuilding process.
Lastly, Toronto looked poised to grab hold of the reigns in a weak AL East division with the support of young but talented members of the pitching staff.
Each team still shows some promise. Maybe a little bit of reckless promise now. But is there still hope for these five clubs? Not quite. Each team mentioned got hit with a bit of an injury bug during Spring Training, dramatically hindering their supply of hope for a successful season. Good hitters, young talent, and strong pitching are all susceptible to the toll of preseason injuries, including age and surprise sprinkler holes.
Let’s take a further look at the players injured so far in March and the impact each team will face in their absences.
Next: New York Mets
1. New York Mets
Brad Barr-USA TODAY Sports
The Mets’ 2014 season was a season of waiting. Matt Harvey spent all of the 2014 season waiting for his elbow to recuperate from 2013 Tommy John surgery after a torn ligament during a stellar 2013 campaign. Noah Syndergaard, the Mets’ top rated pitching prospect, remained in the minor leagues for the 2014 season while continuing to develop into MLB-ready talent.
Now, the fall of one starter may give an early opportunity for Syndergaard to make his long-awaited Major League debut. Zack Wheeler, who posted a solid 3.54 ERA in 32 starts last season, suffered a torn UCL earlier this spring that will sideline him for the season as he recovers from TJ surgery. He officially announced his decision to undergo the season-ending surgery last week.
This will be a big blow to a rotation that Wheeler occupied a large presence on alongside 2014 NL Rookie of the Year Jacob deGrom and veteran Bartolo Colon. The return of Matt Harvey will certainly help the Mets out for the time being, but only time can tell whether or not they can compete with the seemingly omnipotent Washington Nationals and rising Miami Marlins rotation’s in a pitch-heavy NL East.
Next: Kansas City Royals
2. Kansas City Royals
Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports
Pitching and timely hitting carried the 2014 upstart Kansas City Royals to an American League pennant, and one of those aspects certainly took a hit during the preseason of the follow-up.
During the postseason run of last year, the Royals were helped by the hard-throwing lefty specialist Tim Collins from the back-end of a dominant bullpen. Collins only made one appearance this spring on March 4, and during that appearance he began experiencing discomfort in his throwing arm. About one week later he was under the knife for a season-ending TJ surgery, illustrating a devastating blow to a star-powered bullpen.
The Royals also took a chance this offseason on the signing of oft-injured Braves starter Kris Medlen, who is recovering from a TJ surgery of his own that took place during last year’s Spring Training. He is only expected to be out into late May or early June, although it is unknown whether or not Medlen will be able to have a substantial role on the Royals’ pitching staff.
Next: Texas Rangers
3. Texas Rangers
Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports
Yikes.
Rangers GM Jon Daniels believes that he has all the right pieces to make a strong playoff push in 2015, or at least he used to. A team with the likes of Adrian Beltre, Yu Darvish, Prince Fielder, Shin-Soo Choo, Derek Holland and Jurickson Profar holds a lot of promise and star power, and should be a consistent threat in the American League, but it isn’t now due to the unpredictability of injuries.
Last season powerful first baseman Fielder experienced a herniated disk early on in May that sidelined him for the rest of the year. Choo had difficulty with elbow problems throughout the season that ultimately sidelined him at the end of August after a pedestrian season from the normally-consistent hitter. Starting pitcher Holland hoped to have a good 2014 season before a freak accident at home limited him to only a few starts.
Each of those injured players should be returning and should be healthy for Opening Day 2015, but the fates of ace Yu darvish and prospect Profar aren’t as desirable.
Both will be watching their team play the season without them. Darvish, after being sidelined in late August last season with elbow problems, experienced more discomfort this Spring Training that revealed TJ surgery would be necessary for full recovery.
Profar meanwhile, once a highly-touted five tool prospect that promised to be the future of the Texas Rangers, missed most of the 2014 season and will now miss the entire 2015 season as well. The shoulder injury has been a lingering liability of Profar’s and questions abound of if he can produce when he returns in 2016 after almost two years on the shelf.
Next: Philadelphia Phillies
4. Philadelphia Phillies
Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
Long gone are the Fightin’ Phils of recent years, where the division title was almost guaranteed. The Phillies began an extensive rebuilding process during the offseason with the trades of longtime favorites Jimmy Rollins and Antonio Bastardo. More moves were expected by GM Ruben Amaro Jr., such as the departures of Cole Hamels, Jonathan Papelbon, and Cliff Lee.
None of those names listed have been traded from the Phillies’ ball club, and one of them is almost guaranteed not to be.
The aging star pitcher Lee experienced a torn flexor tendon early on this spring. Such an injury would normally require season-ending surgery, but Lee fears such an operation would also be the end to a career he desires to continue. Instead, the southpaw is pursuing a non-operative rehab approach that will sideline him until mid-June.
The writing on the wall was presented to Amaro Jr., but it was ignored despite the strong belief from the rest of the Phillies community that it was time to move on from their aging talent. Now that Lee is banged up, he holds zero trade value and is due a $25 million salary in 2015.
Next: Toronto Blue Jays
5. Toronto Blue Jays
Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
The reign of the Yankees appears to be over at the moment in the American League East, which provides a window of opportunity for the rest of the division. The Boston Red Sox have been rather on and off over the past few years, but have made huge additions to their team that has made them favorites to take the division again in 2015. Who else will compete in this seemingly wide-open division?
Well, our friends to the north have reason to believe in the royals blue and red, once again. The additions of Josh Donaldson and Russell Martin give much-needed star power to back Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion in the Blue Jays’ offense. Outfield was a focal point of struggle for the Jays as well, so they brought in Michael Saunders from Seattle.
It was a smart move, and the acquisition looked to help improve a mostly youthful outfield. If it wasn’t for that meddling sprinkler head! Michael Saunders injured his knee while shagging fly balls in outfield drills earlier this spring, stepping into a sprinkler hole. The unfortunate injury was expected to sideline a worthy left-handed bat until the All-Star Break. However, after having much of the cartilage removed in his knee, Saunders is expected to miss only three to five weeks of the regular season.
Pitching is also key to winning a division, and the Blue Jays have a handful of promising young pitchers. That handful included hard-throwing righty, starter Marcus Stroman. After posting an 11-6 record to go with an ERA of 3.65 in 2014, Stroman fell victim to another unfortunate practice drill incident, tearing his left ACL fielding bunts earlier this spring.
Such a series of unfortunate events that occurred to a hopeful Toronto team would even have author Lemony Snicket reeling.