Is It An Odd Year?
Matt Cain had a cyst drained and then removed, and hasn’t pitched in a Spring Training game yet.
Madison Bumgarner felt a tug in his rib cage, on top of ongoing foot problems. At first he was scratched from one game, and maybe a second. Now he’s expected to also miss a third.
Johnny Cueto just took a baseball to the forehead, on the first pitch of his second start (after being scratched from what would’ve been his first start).
Sure, the good news is that Cueto stayed in the game and went a normal three innings for a second spring start. The cloud to that silver lining is that he gave up a three-run home run two batters later. The bad news is that HE GOT HIT IN THE HEAD BY A LINE DRIVE.
Chris Heston has looked good so far this spring. That’s good. Clayton Blackburn has tossed the fourth-most innings in Spring Training, two weeks in. That’s not a good sign, but he’s done okay. Chris Stratton has had a pair of starts and…this is a frankly scary thought. And I like Stratton more than most.
These are all, supposedly, small injuries. I mean, Cueto took a ball to the head, but he stayed in the game, so it could be a lot worse. But that’s still a serious thing. We’ll know soon how it turns out. But Cain hasn’t pitched yet this spring, even if he does pitch, will he be ready for the season? Bumgarner’s going to come back, but if this foot issue has been nagging all offseason, are we going to expect it to go away during the season?
This is an auspicious start to an even year. But then, maybe the point of the even years is that we won’t know who saves us.
But, I’m not betting on Chris Stratton.
