The epidemic of pitching injuries in the game of baseball is something that has to be addressed, but it’s much easier said than done because the cause of these injuries is up for debate. Some point to the newly implemented pitch clock or the ban on sticky stuff, but most agree the emphasis on velocity has something to do with it.
Of the top 15 pitchers with the highest average velocity on their fastballs last season, over half of them are already on the IL, many with season-ending injuries like Spencer Strider. However, some new information came to light today about what caused the Braves ace to go down so early in the season. A bone fragment created disruption with his UCL, something that could have been there for years and was acting as a ticking time bomb. It didn’t really matter what Spencer Strider did; this was not something that could have been avoided.
Spencer Strider also said that he did feel some soreness during Spring Training, but because the results were so good, he opted to ignore it in hopes that it was just the result of getting back into the groove of things.
Not many teams could lose their ace a couple of weeks into the season and keep on chugging like nothing happened, but that’s exactly what the Braves are doing. Despite losing three All-Stars to the IL — Spencer Strider, Sean Murphy, and most recently, Ozzie Albies — the Braves enter Friday night’s play with the best record in baseball at 12-5.
This is a deep roster built to withstand multiple blows. As Spencer Strider said, “These guys don’t need me to win a World Series.”
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