As baseball fans, we’re all excited to get spring training out of the way and start the regular season. Of course, the preseason provides the opportunity for necessary preparation, while also building anticipation and excitement. But for a handful of MLB teams, the spring brought disappointment, possibly landing some significant blows to postseason and championship expectations. Their general managers would surely love to call a mulligan and add some depth to cover major injuries. Here are five clubs that wish they could use a time machine to go back and start spring training over again.
Texas Rangers
No team would like to hit the reset button more than the Rangers. Texas entered Cactus League play as one of the favorites to win the AL pennant after adding Shin-Soo Choo and Prince Fielder to its lineup. But in the span of two days, the Rangers lost two of their starting position players for up to three months. Second baseman Jurickson Profar suffered a muscle tear in his right shoulder, while catcher Geovany Soto will be sidelined due to a torn meniscus in his right knee.
Soon thereafter, Texas announced that Yu Darvish would open the season on the disabled list because of a neck issue. The Rangers’ starting rotation was already thin with Derek Holland out until late June and Matt Harrison likely to begin the year on the DL. Additionally, reliever Neftali Feliz — expected to be the closer — was assigned to the minors after a poor spring, forcing Alexi Ogando to be moved to the bullpen and further eroding the team’s starting pitching depth.
Atlanta Braves
Losing two starting pitchers is a tough way to begin the season. That’s an even more difficult task when one of those pitchers is the rotation’s No. 1 starter. Both Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy sustained elbow injuries that required Tommy John surgery (each for the second time in their careers), knocking them out for the entire 2014 season. The Braves will also be missing Mike Minor and Gavin Floyd to begin the season, leaving a battered rotation to pitch through April.
Atlanta was extremely fortunate to have Ervin Santana still available on the free agent market after Medlen and Beachy went down. Aaron Harang could also help out the back end of the rotation. Those moves don’t constitute a do-over, but for the Braves, they might just be the next best thing.
Oakland Athletics
Another club going into the 2014 season without two of its projected starting pitchers is the A’s. Jarrod Parker is out for the year after undergoing Tommy John surgery, while A.J. Griffin is expected to begin the season on the DL with elbow tendinitis. In addition, Ryan Cook — a key part of the Oakland bullpen for the past two seasons — has fought shoulder inflammation during the spring, which will prevent him from being ready for opening day. Eric O’Flaherty could also be on the DL at the start of the season as he works back from his Tommy John procedure.
Fortunately for the A’s, general manager Billy Beane has built enough pitching depth that both the starting rotation and bullpen should be able to compensate for those losses.
Arizona Diamondbacks
Serious elbow injuries among pitchers have been a near-epidemic this spring. Patrick Corbin is the D-Backs’ contribution to that trend, another No. 1 starter who will miss the season after tearing a ligament in his pitching elbow that required Tommy John surgery. Despite general manager Kevin Towers’ best efforts to bolster his rotation during the offseason, Corbin’s injury leaves Arizona’s starting staff short-handed as the season begins. Top prospect Archie Bradley could fill that opening eventually. But for now, it appears that Randall Delgado will get the nod.
The team’s outfield is also thin going into opening day as Cody Ross will start the year on the DL after undergoing surgery to repair a dislocated hip he suffered last August. The trade for Mark Trumbo ensures that Ross won’t be missed in the D-Backs’ starting lineup. However, Ross could provide valuable depth later in the season.
UPDATE: The news gets even worse for the D-Backs. Reliever David Hernandez is the latest MLB pitcher to suffer a torn ligament in his pitching elbow. He’s expected to undergo Tommy John surgery (joining fellow Arizona pitchers Corbin, Daniel Hudson and Matt Reynolds) and is out for the 2014 season.
Detroit Tigers
There just aren’t very many good shortstops in MLB, so any team that loses one will have a problem. For the Tigers, that issue is compounded by the fact that Jose Iglesias provides an excellent glove at the position. But Iglesias could miss the entire season due to stress fractures in both of his shins. That forced the Tigers to make some desperate additions late in the spring with Andrew Romine and 37-year-old Alex Gonzalez.
Outfielder Andy Dirks, expected to be the left-handed side of a left field platoon, will also miss at least the first two months of the season after undergoing back surgery. But the worst loss for Detroit will be Bruce Rondon, who suffered a season-ending elbow injury. That weakens what was already a questionable bullpen, leaving no reliable setup relievers behind closer Joe Nathan. Maybe the Tigers should’ve seen if their new $292 million man has a good fastball too.
