Arm Trouble

[Buck Nasty]

I read Deduno has a sore arm now. It got me thinking about this year...from memory:

 

Nick Blackburn who had an outside shot at making the rotation has been hurt all year.

 

Cole Defries who probably won a spot in the rotation out of Spring Training - out of the year

 

Scott Diamond who was being counted on for stability had surgery during the off-season and has been ineffective all year.

 

Vance Worely - Opening day Starter. Obviously wasn't healthy this year coming off surgery and is now out for the rest of the year.

 

Sam Deduno - had a good shot of making the rotation after the WBC, but got hurt late in Spring and is now hurt again.

 

Mike Pelphrey -Coming off TJ has shown flashes, but generally ineffective

 

Kyle Gibson - Coming off TJ has shown flashes, but generally ineffective

 

Anthony Swarzak - Had outside shot at rotation, but due to "horsing around" got a late start and ended up in the pen (where he's been great)

 

Liam Hendricks - Made the team out of Spring, but didn't seem healthy. Eventually went on DL after being demoted to AAA

 

Pedro Hernandez - Made some spot start, but not sure if he was 100% healthy this year. Recently on DL

 

Alex Meyers - Big prize of off season, has been hurt for half the year.

 

Alex Wimmers - Coming back from TJ

 

That's all I can think of off the top of my head. It seems like pitchers are never healthy these days. The last healthy rotation I found for the Twins was back 2004:

Santana (228 innings)

Radke (219 innings)

Silva (203 innings)

Lohse (194 innings)

 

They need to find a couple old-timey "Rubber Armed" guys for next year's rotation or their very good bullpen will certainly start burning out arms.

[stringer bell]

That seems to be the state of the game these days. Durable, effective starters are at a premium and cost big money. The Twins haven't "struck gold" on anyone in their organization and certainly haven't spent the money to bring in a guy who could reasonably be expected to throw a lot of innings and have an ERA at or under 3.5. I haven't given up hope long term on many of the guys listed, but the path seems to be full of bumps and pitfalls.

[Badsmerf]

What has changed? To me, coddling of pitchers and crybaby attitudes. Many people get tired of Bert's rambling about his philosophies, but I would love that attitude in players/coaches. Talent has to be a factor too. I can't get over how much terrible luck the Twins have had with injuries and wonder why is happening. I don't pay enough attention to other teams' injuries to know how widespread this is.

[drjim]

What has changed? To me, coddling of pitchers and crybaby attitudes. Many people get tired of Bert's rambling about his philosophies, but I would love that attitude in players/coaches. Talent has to be a factor too. I can't get over how much terrible luck the Twins have had with injuries and wonder why is happening. I don't pay enough attention to other teams' injuries to know how widespread this is.

 

The Twins are far from unique for injuries.

 

I think it has more to do with advanced medical diagnosis. Also increased velocity. Arms aren't designed to throw this many pitches this hard.

[DaveW]

Whats amazing about all of this, is the fact the Twins actually have a decent shot to win 72+ games

[E. Andrew]

I think pitchers hide their minor injuries less, because they have less fear of losing their jobs. While statistically-speaking there are many 'replacement-level' pitchers, most big-leaguers can continue to get contracts if they've had even a modest amount of success. Guys like Thomas/Mastroianni are one DL>>Slump combo from being forgotten.

[ThePuck]

Whats amazing about all of this, is the fact the Twins actually have a decent shot to win 72+ games

 

Let's hope they do better than they did in 2011 at end of season. That year they had exactly the same win-loss record as they do this year after 123 games. They ended up winning only 63.