The Dodgers announced two bullpen moves, activating right-hander Corey Knebel from the 60-day injured list. Knebel will take the place of Joe Kelly, who was placed on the injured list for unspecified reasons.
Knebel hasn’t pitched since April 23 due to a right lat strain, marking yet another significant injury setback for the veteran righty. Tommy John surgery sidelined Knebel for the entire 2019 season, and he was limited to 13 1/3 innings last season due to both a hamstring problem and some struggles on the mound — Knebel had a 6.08 ERA over 13 1/3 frames.
Los Angeles acquired Knebel from the Brewers in the hopes that he could return to his old All-Star form from 2017, and though Knebel only tossed six innings before hitting the IL, there were some positive signs. Knebel struck out nine of 24 batters faced, and his fastball was averaging 96.4mph. This was well above his 94.4mph mark from 2020, and roughly around what Knebel averaged in his heyday in Milwaukee’s bullpen.
Did LA have an open 40 man roster spot? Unless they placed Joe Kelly on the Covid list or the 60 day-IL himself, I would assume that LA would have to make a move to free up a 40 man roster spot for Knebel as a standard 10 day IL placement does not open a spot on the 40 man roster.
40 man is full. The only exception I believe is if Joe Kelly is a covid placement then no corresponding move is required.
Don’t understand either.
Joe Kelly was put on the IL for being Joe Kelly.
They had an open spot from Kershaw’s transfer to the 60 day.
I swear they make up injuries sometimes. What’s really wrong with Kelly?
He did hurt his hamstring but that was about a week ago and he’s pitched since then.
On Friday he attempted to stop a line drive up the middle with his hand. He was able to deflect it and continue the inning. He didn’t pitch the next two games .
Yea it did hit his throwing hand fingers, you are right he hasn’t pitched since then. Kelly’s injuries are always so vague when described.
When do the Dodgers starting looking into their training staff? Holy S**t how many guys have been hurt this year.
It’s not just the Dodgers. Baseball as a whole. I don’t ever remember this many injuries. I don’t know if it’s conditioning. Bad mechanics. Softer players. Management being overly cautious with minor injuries because of money. I just know I’m pretty tired of reading about injuries all the time.
It’s due to 2020’s short season. Not just the missed games from the schedule, but a lack of baseball activity in general. Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling discussed this a couple of months ago during a Mets game. How working out at home is not the same thing as doing so with the team. They felt many players overcompensated for being away from the game by weight training and other non-baseball-friendly stuff. Their point was that baseball involves a lot of standing around in the field, followed by occasionally having to bust it to make a defensive play or on the basepaths. That’s tough on the body.
Also, almost all pitchers are now way beyond the number of competitive innings they threw in 2021. Notice all the arm-related inflammations on recent injury reports. It is getting worse, not better. Don’t forget, minor leaguers in 2021 didn’t play at all.
In hindsight, a shorter season with a longer spring training might have been the way to go. Get guys stretched out and limbered up so they’re in proper baseball shape. Over the winter, MLB needs to examine what went wrong in regard to the training. As fans, we should dread a work stoppage in 2022. Players can’t keep turning it on and off from one season to the next, and a stoppage will surely result in guys again working out on their own, with similar results.
Two long posts by me. My apologies to anyone who is annoyed.
Makes a lot of sense though.
Some posters here advocated for longer spring training and a shorter season over the winter. There were also conversations about the likelihood of increased pitcher injuries.
Some numbers: So far in 2021, MLB teams have used 1,247 batters and 796 pitchers. The records for are 1,287 and 831, both set in 2019. Those records will probably fall by the end of August.
By comparison, in 1998, the first year of a 30-team MLB, there were 1,097 batters and 557 pitchers. The numbers have steadily gone up, particularly for pitchers. My favorite team, the Dodgers, has already used a club record of 32 pitchers. Ridiculous, even though they lead MLB in ERA. Heck, they are still signing guys to eat innings here and there. It’s going to be tough for many teams to make it to the finish line with their pitching staffs, contenders included.
No, good posts.
fox471, thanks. A downside is that it’s kept me from doing stuff I need to do. Any minute, my wife is gonna come home and ask, “what did you do all day?”
All aboard the Injured List Express, It’s been a brutal season in that regard. How bad? Check this out.
Here are the top 10 players from MLB Network’s pre-season ranking of the best 100 players. Eight of the 10 have missed significant time this season. Of those eight, two players are out for the season, five are currently on the injured list, and one is still sitting every few games due to a nagging injury. Pretty alarming, and these are just the first 10 players. If you look at the entire list, you’ll find a bunch of star players who have had their 2021 season derailed by health issues (or, in the cases of Trevor Bauer and Marcell Ozuna, suspensions). I’ll mess around with the rest of the list at some point. I would link it but don’t know if that’s okay. It can be found easily. Numbers are through Monday’s games. Each team has 50 or so games remaining.
1. Mike Trout. Games missed: 76 and counting
2. Mookie Betts. Games missed: 25 (still sits to rest ribs)
3. Jacob deGrom. Games missed: roughly 7 starts and counting
4. Freddie Freeman. Games missed: 1
5. Juan Soto. Games missed: 11
6. Fernando Tatis Jr. Games missed: 27 and counting
7. Ronald Acuna Jr. Games played: 82. DONE FOR THE SEASON
8. Anthony Rendon. Games played: 58. DONE FOR THE SEASON
9. Christian Yelich. Games missed: 43 and counting.
10. Cody Bellinger. Games missed: 59.
Pretty scary stuff. Would have thought Seager was a top-ten guy and he’s missed around 50 games.
BlueSkies, A difficult season to watch for fans of all teams.
How about this? As of right now, 18 MLB pitchers have thrown at least 130 innings. I would bet that about half those guys don’t make it to 200. We can bank on Julio Urias (`11th at 134.2) not getting there, right?
In 2012, a new record-low was set when 30 pitchers made it to 200 innings. From 2013-15, it was 36, 33, and another new record of 28. From 2016-19, it was 15, 15, 13, 15. Now we are looking at less than 10 in 2021. Pitching usage strategies have changed, of course, but it hasn’t resulted in fewer injuries. MLB will eclipse 1,300 pitchers used in 2021. That’s way up from the 557 used in 1998 (the first year with 30 teams). Record numbers for position players pitching and pitchers used per game. Today, a guy who pitches 175 innings is considered an innings-eater worthy of a multiyear contract.
MLB needs to poll its consumers on recent trends and how it affects their enjoyment of the game. I don’t go to games these days but would feel gypped if I bought advance tickets for what turned out to be a bullpen game. I wonder how fans, in general, feel about this and other ballpark issues. A reason I no longer go to games is too many nuts in the stands. I’ve turned into my father: Why go to the game when you can see it better on TV?
No kidding. The Dodgers have already used a franchise record number of pitchers this year. I forget the exact number but it’s at least 30. Part of this is the bullpen churn Friedman likes so much but of course injuries factor in as well.
I feel kind of cheated when a pitcher appears on the mound who I’ve never heard of before, wasn’t on the roster yesterday, and if you blink you will miss him because tomorrow he will be gone. I keep much closer track of this stuff than the average fan, so what is the average fan thinking about these appearing and disappearing players? Kind of a fan killer.
Urias I think might surprise you. Clearly the Dodgers are are confident in his mended shoulder now and are no longer babying him.
Yea would take Seager over Rendon anyday
5,6,7,&10 are 4/5 of my keepers(5th being Seager) in an NL fantasy league I am in. Not whining about it-just lamenting the reality of how all parts of life will continue to be directly and indirectly affected by Covid.
paddy, maybe your league should have games played as a category.
Ha! Maybe for my team….but it’s a points league where that might not work too well even if taken seriously.
Joe Kelly brings back fond memories. 5 years of RS fans complaining about him, despite being a perfectly adequate middle inning guy.
The day after the Dodgers signed him, the same people complained about Henry being a cheapskate.
That about sums up most sports “fans”
Theroyal19….Indeed!
Is it just me or have the Giants played the Dbacks like fifty times this year.
The increase in injuries is due to the completely unnecessary increase in BMI by the players to numbers that coincide with being overweight. No matter how athletic, they are carrying unnecessary weight on their bodies. They mistake this unnecessary bulk with improved performance, when in fact it is factually associated with higher incidence of injury. It’s a fool’s chase to better performance in a game that has never, ever required bulk. The game is scouted, managed and administered by a group of men who are totally ignorant of the concept of being a fit, strong, flexible, appropriately sized athlete. Obsessed with size, velocity, and other inane statistics that have little to do with consistent performance. Sad, really.
It cracks me up when fans say baseball players aren’t as athletic as football or basketball players. It’s a different type of athleticism. You wouldn’t want the Tampa Bay Bucs starting offensive line filling in for the Tampa Bay Rays starting infield. Likewise, you wouldn’t want the Rays infield protecting Tom Brady (unless you really hate Brady). MLB teams, players, and agents need to decide how to move forward with this because trends don’t magically turn around. It will keep getting worse and will accelerate if there’s a short or canceled season due to a work stoppage. As a longtime baseball fan, I am all injured out. At times, I thought about shutting down my fandom for the remainder of the season. And I still might as my wife and I have made plans for several days during the post-season that will preclude me from watching baseball.
Agreed. I check the fan sites religiously and invariably Covid, oblique’s, hammy’s etc are topic dejour. As one who drafted Mondesi and is currently 30+ SB’s shy as a result of him and his 10 days of playing time, I am IL’d out. 2020 has a lot to do with it but as we’re in August, off-season conditioning needs to be looked at.
The return if Evil Knebel!