Having the veteran pitcher of your starting staff on the DL is never good, but when that player is also one of your ace pitchers, it hurts even more. This year, pitchers are dropping like flies. Some of the usual suspects, Brett Anderson, Josh Johnson and Josh Beckett, are back on the DL and hurting their teams again with their inability to stay healthy. But, there are also some new faces to the DL this year that are really surprising fans, and hurting their teams in the process.
One of the biggest early surprises of the season was how bad Roy Halladay was pitching to start the season. Good ole Doc Halladay had never had a stretch in his career as bad as he had to start the season. After his first seven starts this season, Halladay had an ERA of over eight. Over eight is horrible for anyone, but with a 3.31 career ERA before this season an ERA that high is unthinkable. After those seven starts, Halladay is done for the year after injuring his shoulder and causing him to need surgery. The biggest issue with this surgery is that the Phillies have spent a lot of money on pitching, some would say too much, and because of that they needed Halladay to continue to anchor the rotation with Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels if they were going to get back into postseason contention. Without him, the Phillies are an old offense and will have to lean on the those two pitchers and youngster Kyle Kendrick to keep them in games.
Could this possibly be the end of the Doc? Halladay will be in his 17th season next year and coming off of shoulder surgery. He will be 37 years old, which is not as old as it used to be for a pitcher, but this is a guy who has pitched a lot of innings in his career, 2721.2 to be exact. He has pitched 220 innings in a single season eight times, and six straight from 2006-11 before his injury shortened season last year. Those are numbers you like to see from your workhorse ace pitcher, but those numbers could very well lead to the end of one of the best pitchers of the 21st century.
Andy Pettitte is in a similar, but at the same time, different situation. Pettitte is in his 18th season and is 41 years old. Injuries are not something new for Pettitte, he has dealt with injuries for years which caused him to retire for the 2011 season before returning to the Yankees midway through the 2012 season. The injury issues for Pettitte and Halladay are similar because it is probably going to mean the end of both of their careers, but the difference is the Yankees do not need Pettitte as much as the Phillies need Halladay, right now at least.
The Yankees have done amazing things this season while dealing with veteran stars on the DL, so missing Pettitte is nothing new to them. The Yankees have proven they can win during the season even without their veteran players, and Pettitte is no different. They will miss him when October comes around if he ends up having more injury issues. This is the reason the Yankees keep bringing Pettitte back, and if for some reason or another Pettitte ends up unhealthy for the postseason, it might not only mean the end of his career, it could very well spell trouble for the Yankees. Without Pettitte the Yankees not only lose a quality veteran starting pitcher, they lose one of the best starting pitchers in postseason history with 16 years and 32 series of experience under his belt.
Two of the biggest surprising pitchers on the DL this season are not the same kind of Veteran pitchers as Halladay and Pettitte, but they are veterans who are just as important, if not more so, than both of them.
Jered Weaver’s injury this year could be the most devastating injury so far this season. The Angels were already looking at another horrible start to the season, much like 2012, before his injury, but when Weaver went down it exposed just how bad the Angels rotation is.
Without Weaver in the rotation, the Angels had to lean on C.J. Wilson and a pitching staff that is currently sitting at 27th in the league in ERA. You may not know this, but that is bad, and not winning baseball. It really hurts the team to lose your ace when the rest of your rotation is that bad. It’s not like Weaver was pitching at the near Cy Young level he was pitching at in 2012, but without him out there is no one left to be the stopper. Luckily for the Angels, Weaver will be back soon, but it’s going to take more than just Weaver to help dig the Angels out of the hole they’re in in the division.
The biggest injury to a starting pitcher so far this season has to be David Price. The defending Cy Young winner, like Weaver, is not your typical veteran pitcher because of age, but on the Tampa Bay staff, he is the most veteran pitcher other than Roberto Hernandez. After winning the Cy Young last season, there were high expectations for Price coming into this season, but early on he was not living up to the expectations.
Even though Price was not his normal self, and with Matt Moore picking up the slack, this team needs him out there pitching every fifth day. Price has the kind of stuff that can go out there and strike out 10 plus each time he goes out or pitch a shutout, and without him in there, it puts more pressure on Moore to continue his torrid pace to make up for the loss of Price. This injury shouldn’t hurt Price too much, in fact, it might help Price bounce back from his rough start having time to rest, but the Rays have to hope that the staff can continue pitching well without it’s leader going out there every fifth day.