MLB…Arm Issues.

If you have been paying attention to 2015 Spring Training, you will see that Yu Darvish of the Texas Rangers is having a little bit of elbow discomfort. The injury that Darvish has is being described by the team is an elbow sprain. It seems that this term on many occasions morphs in to a UCL injury (ulnar collateral ligament), and very rarely does it have any other outcome than Tommy John surgery. The outlook for the Texas Rangers was not good to begin with, and now with their ace most assuredly gone for the season, it has become dismal. Anyway, I was thinking about the amount of pitchers that are succumbing to UCL injuries, and asked myself if the frequency of this particular injury is now higher than it was 10 or 20 years ago? It certainly seems that way. In the past few seasons we have seen this injury to Matt Harvey, Joel Hanrahan, Stephen Strasburg, Jose Fernandez, and now Darvish along with several others. Why? Is it because today’s pitchers are bigger with different mechanics? Is it because they throw harder with what is termed as ‘maximum effort’ on every pitch? Is it because most pitchers have been at it for a long time, from the time that they were kids thru the time that their arms simply just let go? Perhaps it is a combination of all of these factors…

My point of all of this is not to get into the weeds of the bio-mechanics of cause and effect. It is more the simple question of what, if anything, can be done to diminish the frequency of this plague-like injury? I am not a doctor ( and no, I do not play on on TV either…), so I really don’t have an answer. Would limiting a pitchers work in the off-season or spring training be helpful? Darvish had done only minimal work in spring training this season, and now he is gone. I do not think that overwork is the issue here. Players have off-season conditioning programs which are generally effective, but in the case of these injured players, not so much.

In the case of the Texas Rangers, they will lose one pitcher, but he was their ace, and the one thing that they could have hung their hat on this season. We probably not see him again until mid-2016. That is going to be a long drought in Arlington Texas. What did the loss of Matt Harvey (Mets) and Jose Fernandez (Marlins) mean to their teams? In the long run, if MLB keeps losing it’s marquee players, they are going to want to do something to protect the product. The question again is ‘what’? I am hopeful that somehow it will get figured out. Players are having their careers dramatically altered, if not ended by UCL injuries. I would like to think that we have some of the best training methods and best sports doctors in the world. Surely they would have some input.

I wish the best for Yu Darvish, and going forward, any other player who suffers a UCL or any other injury. I understand all too well that it is part of the game. My hope is that there will be an answer to the question of injury reduction.

MLB…A Miami Fish Story.

Giancarlo Stanton signed with the Miami Marlins for a record contract for 13 years / $325M. That’s $25M per year. The way that the deal is structured is that he will get $107M for the first six years, which still works out to a nifty $17.8M/yr, and then an opt-out. He is the crown jewel in the Miami roster, but there is more…much more. The Marlins bolstered their pitching staff when they signed Mat Latos as a free agent from Cincinnati. They already have Jose Fernandez who, once he returns from Tommy John surgery, will be another solid starter. The Marlins then added starting pitcher Dan Haren. This all goes along with the other starters in Jared Cosart and Henderson Alvarez. So Miami will have Latos, Haren, Fernandez, Cosart, and Alvarez. To say that this is a very different Marlins starting rotation from the one that took the field in Spring Training 2014 would be an understatement.
What about the additions on the non-pitching side? How about Dee Gordon? Look at new third baseman Martin Prado. Isn’t that Ichiro Suzuki? Add in the power-hitting Michael Morse, and you have something brewing in Miami this year. The Marlins also have OF Christian Yelich on the roster. Say what you will about Jeff Loria, but he has spent the money in the off-season to put a competitive product on the field.
Can the Marlins contend in the National League East? The early season favorites are obviously the Washington Nationals, and it looks like they will be hard to beat. But how much further are the Nationals ahead of the Marlins? I submit that it is not as much as many people think. The Nationals will win 95 games. At least I think that they will, or pretty darn near it. Are the Marlins capable of winning 95 games with their current roster? I am not so sure of that, but I do believe that the Marlins will win 89 to 93 games, and they will be in the hunt for a Wild Card in the National League.