The Attrition War, Devil Rays
Part of a continuing series, follow-ups to the initial post detailing the Mariners history over the same period. For the Devil Rays and Diamondbacks, the comparison period is limited to years the club existed (and also by Baseball America’s listings).
Do the Mariners, in comparison to other teams, suffer a higher rate of injury to their pitching prospects than other teams? Here, I look at the Devil Rays.
Please note that I am trying to refrain from drawing any conclusions or making any comparisons, guessing at causes or relationships, or doing anything but presenting straight data. When the series is finished, I’ll have a summary post where I talk about those things.
In every organization so far there have been are several cases where those stats seem to ignore something important. I’m going at attempt to address those in the summary post, as well as methodology and thoughts on future research directions.
The Devil Rays had 17 pitchers who appeared at least once on a Baseball America Top Ten prospect list between 1998-2004 (Baseball America’s Top 10 Prospects Archive did not list 1997).
Of those, pitchers who injured their elbow and required surgery: 2 (McClung, Switzer)
Of those, pitchers who injured their shoulders and required surgery: 1 (White)
(generally, I’m looking for major surgeries that require ~1y off)
Readers are, as always, encouraged to to add/correct information here in the comments or by email. Citations are particularly welcome.
Detailed data
Rolando Arrojo, 2/1998
Traded to the Rockies in December 1999 for Vinny Castilla.
Dewon Brazelton, 3/2002, 4/2003
Pitching in the majors.
Jesus Colome, 5/2001, 4/2002
Pitching in the majors (but on the DL with shoulder inflammation for the second time…).
Chad Gaudin, 6/2004
Traded to the Blue Jays in December 2004 for Kevin Cash.
Travis Harper, 10/1999, 10/2001
Pitching in the majors.
James Houser, 4/2004
Pitching in the minors. Had shoulder problems last year.
Delvin James, 10/2002
Wounded his shoulder in a Waffle House shootout in September 2003. Signed a minor league deal with Florida in November 2003.
Jason Johnson, 6/1998
Traded to the Orioles in March 1999 in an boring deal.
Seth McClung, 6/2002, 5/2003, 8/2004
Ligament replacement surgery on his elbow in July 2003.
Marquis Roberts, 8/1998
Foiled a bank robbery in September 2000.
Ryan Rupe, 6/1999
Blod clot in his arm ended his season in September 2000. Athroscopic knee surgery in late 2002 ended that year. Released in November 2002.
Bobby Seay, 3/1998, 5/1999, 8/2001
Missed much of 2002 with shoulder and elbow issues. Missed much of 2003 with shoulder issues. Traded to the Rockies in April 2005 for Reggie Taylor.
Jason Standridge, 5/1998, 2/2000, 2/2001, 9/2002
Signed with Texas as in November 2004. Pitching in the minors.
Jon Switzer, 7/2003
Ligament replacement surgery on his elbow in May 2004.
Doug Waechter, 10/2003, 3/2004
Pitching in the majors.
Dan Wheeler, 6/2000
Released in December 2001.
Matt White, 1/1998, 1/1999, 5/2000, 7/2001, 7/2002
Many shoulder surgeries.
Comments
2 Responses to “The Attrition War, Devil Rays”
Two points.
1) Doug Waechter would be so much cooler if he pronounced his name as Vector. He almost does.
2) Why do Devil Rays keep getting shot?
Marquis Roberts, 8/1998
Foiled a bank robbery in September 2000.
—
Well at least his career in law enforcement is safe.