MLB Spring Pitching Injuries, Good News For Some

It’s not just a spring thing, 40% of all starting pitchers will spend some time on the injured list. It’s just that after a few months not under the watchful eyes of their major league teams, pitchers are especially vulnerable.

Kind of like that award winning movie – Everything Everywhere All At Once.

New York Pitching Woes

The Yankees starting rotation has been hit hard. Losing two and perhaps three of their starting pitchers, Luis Gil, Clarke Schmidt and of course ace Gerrit Cole.

That has opened spots in the rotation for rookie Will Warren and a pair of veterans in Marcus Stroman and Carlos Carrasco.

There are problems across town as well with the Mets starting the season without both Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas. That means David Peterson has a spot with Tyler Megill, Paul Blackburn and Griffin Canning battling for perhaps two others.

Dodgers Deep Depth

The dodgers just keep adding pitchers, and they should. While pitchers will almost universally eventually get hurt, the Dodgers collection of pitchers have a deep history of going down.

Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell are not known for huge collections of innings. Tony Gonsolin will not be available to start the season and the wait for Shohei Ohtani’s return to the mound will continue into May.

Dustin May won’t have to wait long for his return to the rotation after his latest arm woes. The team’s injury list for pitchers is deep. Clayton Kershaw, Gavin Stone, Emmett Sheehan and River Ryan, and those are just the starters.

Top Starters questionable

The Orioles, already short on top end starters are doing without Grayson Rodriguez. The Orioles have signed veteran righty Kyle Gibson to eat some innings.

The Red Sox are down three. Kutter Crawford, Brayan Bello and Lucas Giolito.  So Richard Fitts, Sean Newcomb and Quinn Priester with chances to step forward.

George Kirby’s shoulder is not 100% in Seattle, Emerson Hancock to step up.

Pirates starter Jared Jones is dealing with an elbow situation and that could open the door for a pair of impressive youngsters. The uber talented Bubba Chandler has already been demoted but another rookie, Thomas Harrington is still around.

The Padres Yu Darvish won’t be ready, opening the door for Kyle Hart or Randy Vasquez.

One moment on the outside, the next with a chance, do well and it’s yours to keep, until you get hurt.

About the author

Elliott Price

Elliott spent more than 40 years in sports broadcasting. He hosted sports morning shows in both Montreal and Toronto. Elliott handled play by play duties in a multitude of sports. Most notably as the voice of the Montreal Expos. Also CFL football, NHL hockey, OHL and QMJHL junior hockey, boxing, soccer, swimming and more. He currently is senior baseball writer for 'The Sports Rush'

Read More