I’m not sure what annoys me more: that Joe Saunders has been pitching horribly for several weeks and has now suddenly developed a shoulder injury or that the Angels expect us to believe it.
The Halo PR machine would have us believe that Joe Saunders has been valiantly pitching through the pain for the better part of three months for the good of the team. If that is the truth, then someone whose name rhymes with Pony Shmeagins has some serious explaining to do. It was one thing to not have a viable fallback option for a pitcher who has been pitching poorly most of the season, but to not have a suitable replacement ready to go when you know full well that the same struggling pitcher is also battling an injury is pretty inexcusable. If Saunders was merely struggling with mechanics or the mental aspect of the pitching game, then there is always hope that he can work the issue out in a matter of time and get back to pitching like an All-Star. But when an injury is involved, all that hope is thoroughly dashed.
Seldom is there an instance that the phrases “injury to his throwing shoulder” and “starting pitcher” foretell good things. To think that Saunders would simply be able to pitch through whatever health issue he is having and come out like a champ is simply foolish. In fact, it is so foolish that I don’t really believe that a savvy franchise like the Angels would make that mistake, especially in a season where the pitching staff has been plagued by injuries. This, of course, raises the question of how long has Saunders been hiding the injury from the team if he is even really injured at all?
Joe Saunders wouldn’t be the first big league pitcher to hide an injury from the training staff because he believes the ailment to be minor and doesn’t want to risk having to miss any time when his club already has enough health problems to worry about. Assuming that is the case, it is hard to blame Saunders for concealing his pain, at least at first. Coming off injuries to John Lackey, Ervin Santana and the tragic death of Nick Adenhart it is easy to see why a stand-up guy like Saundo would try and gut it out for the greater good. Where my appreciation for his selflessness ends is that he might not have revealed his shoulder trouble until just after the trade deadline, thus not affording GM Tony Reagins a chance to acquire another starting pitcher. But once again, I find myself skeptical that nobody on the coaching or training staff was able to figure out that Saunders might be hurt after weeks of him turning each of his starts into impromptu home run derbies for the Angels’ opponents.
That leaves us with secret option C which is that Saunders isn’t actually injured but instead is being placed on the disabled list to open up a roster spot while the team tries to determine how it is he suddenly forgot how to pitch. The phantom shoulder injury is merely a convenient cover so that Saunders can save a little face, that and I’m pretty sure you can’t be placed on the DL for the reason of “can’t get anyone out.” Should this prove to be the true story, then the Angels are in all sorts of trouble. Not only have they missed a chance to acquire a quality starting pitcher to fill-in for Saunders, but they would have effectively raised the white flag on fixing Joe’s pitching issues anytime in the near future. When you have to resort to the tact of just hoping some rest will and time away from the game will magically make things better, you are in dire straits. What’s next? Sacrificing a chicken? Looking for four-leaf clovers?
Say hello to the Angels’ cure to their rotation problems.
Now the Angels have no choice but to call up Trevor Bell, their umpteenth rookie pitcher this season and their second rotation member who hadn’t thrown a pitch above Single-A prior to this season. These are not the guys championship rotations. No matter which of the above scenarios turns out to be the real truth, there is going to be plenty of blame to go around.
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