Injuries are already starting to bite in Spring Training. While you would prefer to suffer injuries now rather than in September, it’s still a disruption that teams and players could do without.
Mike Hampton’s return after two years out ended almost as soon as it had begun. He lasted just 1.1 innings before leaving the field with a strained right groin. Thankfully the early reports are that this is just a minor setback and he may not even miss his next scheduled outing. Meanwhile, Francisco Liriano’s much-anticipated return to the mound went without a hitch. Apparently he has made a few small changes to his violent delivery, although sometimes you just have to accept that a pitcher’s delivery is what it is. Try to meddle with it too much and you can end up at best making the pitcher less effective and at worst causing a different injury. Even in cricket, we’ve heard many a comment about Andrew Flintoff needing to change his bowling action to take the strain of his left ankle, which he pounds down on to the wicket during his delivery. The trouble is, he’s always bowled that way and making him change now would be very difficult. Bowling, pitching, batting, hitting: they all require your instincts to take over. You cannot consciously think about your pitching motion when trying to get a hitter out. What often happens is that any changes are temporary and unconsciously you slip back into your old habits. Let’s just hope Liriano can stay healthy, whether it’s via a revised delivery or not.
Elsewhere, various GM’s are having to reassess their rosters.
For the Dodgers, the injury to Adam LaRoche in one sense makes things easier. It seems like every man and his dog outside of the organization thought that LaRoche should be the starting third baseman this season, whereas there were signs that Joe Torre would stick with the veteran Nomar Garciaparra. LaRoche’s torn ligament in his right thumb will keep him out for up to ten weeks and effectively takes the decision out of the Dodgers’ hands for now. However Garciaparra had an injury scare yesterday as well and MLB.com notes that with the likes of Joe Crede and Brandon Inge available, they might make a move to fill the position. Ned Colletti appears to favour staying in-house which would be the sensible move (otherwise they will be blocking LaRoche when he returns to fitness), but you have to wonder whether they will panic.
After signing Johan Santana, the Mets appeared to have made themselves favourites for the NL East. Now their roster has taken a hit with Carlos Beltran struggling with his knees, Carlos Delgado battling an injured right hip and Moises Alou undergoing surgery on a hernia (not to mention several other players with strains etc). Still, it should come as no surprise to see those three players succumbing to injuries, just as the Padres shouldn’t be shocked to have Jim Edmonds on the sidelines.
Although it’s not going to have much of an affect on the AL East standings (to say the least), you have to feel sorry for Troy Patton. It’s going to be a long year of rehabilitation after having surgery on his left labrum.
Finally, two teams who really don’t need their preparations disrupted even further are the Red Sox and the A’s. Their opening two-game series in Japan has forced them to adapt their normal schedules. The news that Eric Chavez probably won’t be going to Japan is hardly ‘news’ at all, but Daisuke Matsuzaka’s possible omission would be a blow for all concerned. His wife is expecting their second child around the time of the team’s departure to Japan.
Sometimes it’s tough being a GM!
