Injuries happen

[Can_of_corn]

So the only year Tampa was not the lowest of the five teams they only missed two more games then the healthiest team. Tampa's average for 403 is lower then any yearly total by Balt, NY or Bos and is lower then three of the seasons Tor has had.

I think folks overlook health when explaining how Tampa can stay competitive with a small budget.

[DrungoHazewood]

So the only year Tampa was not the lowest of the five teams they only missed two more games then the healthiest team. Tampa's average for 403 is lower then any yearly total by Balt, NY or Bos and is lower then three of the seasons Tor has had.

I think folks overlook health when explaining how Tampa can stay competitive with a small budget.

One of my pet harebrained schemes has long been for Angelos to donate maybe $10M of his fortune to John's Hopkins to establish a Baseball Medicine and Biomechanics deptartment, just so long as they could establish some kind of NDA to give them a competitive advantage.

Hey, they started converting random failed minor leaguers into knuckleballers this year. So all of my dreams could come true!

[MurphDogg]

I for one am shocked to learn that older players get hurt at a more frequent rate than younger players. And teams with a younger roster tend to lose fewer games to injuries than teams with an older roster.

[Can_of_corn]

I for one am shocked to learn that older players get hurt at a more frequent rate than younger players. And teams with a younger roster tend to lose fewer games to injuries than teams with an older roster.

That is odd, according to this Tampa had the fifth oldest team in baseball this year, a full year older then Baltimore.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/rosters/_/sort/average_age/order/true

According to this Tampa was older then Baltimore in 2012 as well.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=mlb&id=7780246

[El Gordo]

In an interview with Chris Archer on XM MLB the other day, he was describing what sounded like a very sophisticated program for strengthening and protecting pitchers' shoulders from injury. Sounded state of the art. Those TB folks really know what they're doing.

[Can_of_corn]

In an interview with Chris Archer on XM MLB the other day, he was describing what sounded like a very sophisticated program for strengthening and protecting pitchers' shoulders from injury. Sounded state of the art. Those TB folks really know what they're doing.

That is certainly what the numbers imply.

[Frobby]

2014 all-star break recap. Players marked with an * are currently on the DL.

Baltimore -- Machado (24), Davis (12), Wieters* (60), Gonzalez (11), Hunter (18), Norris (13), Jimenez* (5). Reimold, Almanzar, Peguero and Escalona all began the year on the DL, but there is no guarantee that any of them would have been on the Orioles' roster if healthy.

Boston -- Breslow (8), Victorino* (70), Middlebrooks* (72), Napoli (14), Buchholz (28), Carp (33), Doubront (19), Lavarnway* (42). Steven Wright has been out all year, but wasn't sure to make the team.

New York -- Ryan (31), Teixeira (15), Robertson (13), Cervelli (58), Nova* (76), Billings (16), Pineda* (63), Sabathia* (59), Beltran* (26), Kelley (31), Tanaka* (5)

Tampa -- Moore* (89), Cobb (35), Oviedo (19), Zobrist (14), Guyer (23), Hanigan (23), Myers* (41), DeJesus* (23), Escobar (16), Hellickson (92), Sands* (20). Tim Beckham has been out all year, but may not have made the team.

Toronto -- Happ (13), Janssen (37), Reyes (17), Izturis* (84), Lind* (24), Santos (31), Rasmus (33), Cecil (14), Encarnacion* (6), Gillespie* (6), Reimold* (6), Lawrie* (18), Morrow* (67).

I think we can stop talking about the adversity the Orioles have faced. They've been the most injury-free team in the division by far.

[scOtt]

Besides Wieters... and JSantana of course... we've had only minor injuries. With good results.

[backwardsk]

The number of games for Machado, while accurate, doesn't tell the whole story as he had no offseason nor spring training.

[CaptainRedbeard]

2014 all-star break recap. Players marked with an * are currently on the DL.

Baltimore -- Machado (24), Davis (12), Wieters* (60), Gonzalez (11), Hunter (18), Norris (13), Jimenez* (5). Reimold, Almanzar, Peguero and Escalona all began the year on the DL, but there is no guarantee that any of them would have been on the Orioles' roster if healthy.

Boston -- Breslow (8), Victorino* (70), Middlebrooks* (72), Napoli (14), Buchholz (28), Carp (33), Doubront (19), Lavarnway* (42). Steven Wright has been out all year, but wasn't sure to make the team.

New York -- Ryan (31), Teixeira (15), Robertson (13), Cervelli (58), Nova* (76), Billings (16), Pineda* (63), Sabathia* (59), Beltran* (26), Kelley (31), Tanaka* (5)

Tampa -- Moore* (89), Cobb (35), Oviedo (19), Zobrist (14), Guyer (23), Hanigan (23), Myers* (41), DeJesus* (23), Escobar (16), Hellickson (92), Sands* (20). Tim Beckham has been out all year, but may not have made the team.

Toronto -- Happ (13), Janssen (37), Reyes (17), Izturis* (84), Lind* (24), Santos (31), Rasmus (33), Cecil (14), Encarnacion* (6), Gillespie* (6), Reimold* (6), Lawrie* (18), Morrow* (67).

I think we can stop talking about the adversity the Orioles have faced. They've been the most injury-free team in the division by far.

On the contrary, I think Wieters and Machado have had a larger injury impact then you're giving them credit for. That's 84 games from 2 of our best 4-5 players, which is probably 3-5 WAR. We have lost fewer total injury games then the other teams, but those two were some pretty key injuries.

Boston? Victorino was a big loss, but the rest of those players really aren't all that good. I'd put them even with us, at best. New York's big hits are Nova, Sabathia, and Beltran, who probably combine to around the 3-5 WAR from Wieters/Manny. Obviously Tanaka is a huge loss going forward, but to date they've been ok. The Jays haven't lost a single good player for an extended period of time, just a bunch of small injuries. Only the Rays losing Cobb, Moore, Hellickson, and Myers have taken a real beating.

[Bahama O's Fan]

The thing is, you could tell it was coming for New York. Some day they were going to have to pay the piper for signing older players. It happened last year and this year.

[Jonesy10]

Tampa is the only team in the division where the injury troubles are bad and not a surprise. Boston's only real loss is Victorino, who missed 40 games last season and 30 two years ago and is getting up there in age. I don't think its a major surprise he is injured, it's more of a surprise the Red Sox lost Ellsbury and did nothing else to add to the outfield. Then they have Middlebrooks, who has been awful since his rookie season and may have actually been addition by subtraction (giving Holt playing time who has been very good). And then Lavarnway, who was their 3rd string catcher. Nothing unexpected happened, their team simply hasn't played good.

Teixiera and Pineda getting injured is no surprised. Beltran was also a risk. Other than that their major injuries include Sabathia (once again, OLD, weight problem, not very good anyway), Cervelli (back up catcher), and Nova (not very good). They're lucky guys like Jeter, Roberts, Ellsbury and the rest of their aging players didn't get injured. Maybe nobody saw 4/5 of their starting rotation going down, but I don't think the number of games lost is remotely surprising considering their roster, if anything it could be higher. Losing Tanaka is killer, but that just occurred. The Yankees problem hasn't really been injuries. Both their offense and SP just isn't good. That is true with their original rotation. Sabathia and Nova were awful and Kuroda isn't the same. Now, without Tanaka, they're just awful.

For the Jays their only major injuries have been an awful 2B and a SP made of glass. Not much lost with Izturis and almost expected with Morrow. They have most likely been the luckiest team in the league by far with players vastly over performing anyhow.

The Rays have been unlucky but I think you could see this coming with Victorino and NY and TOR's injuries. It's better not to have an average age near 35 and not to rely on players that constantly get injured.

[birdsfever82]

2014 all-star break recap. Players marked with an * are currently on the DL.

Baltimore -- Machado (24), Davis (12), Wieters* (60), Gonzalez (11), Hunter (18), Norris (13), Jimenez* (5). Reimold, Almanzar, Peguero and Escalona all began the year on the DL, but there is no guarantee that any of them would have been on the Orioles' roster if healthy.

Boston -- Breslow (8), Victorino* (70), Middlebrooks* (72), Napoli (14), Buchholz (28), Carp (33), Doubront (19), Lavarnway* (42). Steven Wright has been out all year, but wasn't sure to make the team.

New York -- Ryan (31), Teixeira (15), Robertson (13), Cervelli (58), Nova* (76), Billings (16), Pineda* (63), Sabathia* (59), Beltran* (26), Kelley (31), Tanaka* (5)

Tampa -- Moore* (89), Cobb (35), Oviedo (19), Zobrist (14), Guyer (23), Hanigan (23), Myers* (41), DeJesus* (23), Escobar (16), Hellickson (92), Sands* (20). Tim Beckham has been out all year, but may not have made the team.

Toronto -- Happ (13), Janssen (37), Reyes (17), Izturis* (84), Lind* (24), Santos (31), Rasmus (33), Cecil (14), Encarnacion* (6), Gillespie* (6), Reimold* (6), Lawrie* (18), Morrow* (67).

I think we can stop talking about the adversity the Orioles have faced. They've been the most injury-free team in the division by far.

Perhaps Brady Anderson's contributions with aiding players with their physical conditioning has helped cut down on the injuries.

[Aristotelian]

Don't forget the Orioles' doctors physical examinations, which many people thought were biased against free agents. Arguably we would be in the same boat as NYY if we just opened the checkbook without asking any tough questions, but the Orioles' process has helped avoid some of these debacles. Makes it harder to sign veteran free agents, but keeps us from throwing money into the toilet, which has killed our organization in the past and could do so again.

[spiritof66]

I'm getting real tired of hearing the Yankees' woes blamed on their injuries. Yes, it's unusual that they have lost four starters, but except for Tanaka (whose absence is just beginning to be felt), those starters were not very good. I don't think it's an unforeseen bad break that Sabathia broke down under all that weight and all those innings.

The real problem with the Yankees has been the lack of offense. (The infield defense is bad, too.) They're 13th in the AL in runs scored, just ahead of Houston and Boston, and ninth in HRs. It's hard to blame the lack of offense on injuries. The only offensive contributors on the DL have been Tex (whose recovery from last year's injury has been faster and better than generally expected) and Beltran (pretty predictable that he'd miss time). Every other team in the division has had more costly injuries to its offense.