The Attrition War, Pirates
Part of a continuing series, follow-ups to the initial post detailing the Mariners history over the same period.
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 Pirates.
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 Pirates had 22 pitchers who appeared at least once on a Baseball America Top Ten prospect list from 1995-2004.
Of those 22, pitchers who injured their elbow and required surgery: 3 (Benson, Bradley, Burnett)
Of those 22, pitchers who injured their shoulders and required surgery: 0
(generally, I’m looking for major surgeries that require ~1y off)
Unknowns: Elvin Hernandez
Barely missed counting: Van Benschoten (shoulder)
Contributions welcome!
Readers are, as always, encouraged to to add/correct information here in the comments or by email. Resolving unknowns and citations are particularly welcome.
Detailed data
Jimmy Anderson, 10/1996, 8/1997
Showed up in 99, released in December 2002.
Bronson Arroyo, 7/1998, 9/2000
Claimed off waivers by the Red Sox in February 2003.
Kris Benson, 1/1997, 1/1998, 3/1999
Elbow surgery after the 2000 season.
Bobby Bradley, 5/2000, 2/2001, 4/2002
Elbow surgery in October 2001.
Bryan Bullington, 3/2003, 4/2004
Pitching in the minors.
Sean Burnett, 8/2001, 3/2002, 2/2003, 2/2004
Elbow surgery in September 2004.
Adrian Burnside, 8/2002
Traded to the Tigers in November 2002 as part of the Randall Simon deal.
Mike Gonzalez, 9/2003
Pitching in the majors.
John Grabow, 9/2001
Pitching in the majors.
Elvin Hernandez, 9/1997
???
Blair Johnson, 5/2004
Pitching in the minors.
Esteban Loaiza, 6/1995
Traded to the Rangers in July 1998.
Paul Maholm, 8/2004
Pitching in the minors.
Ramon Morel, 8/1995, 6/1996
Claimed off waivers by the Cubs in September 1997.
Ian Snell, 10/2003, 6/2004 (ne Ian Oquendo, ne Ian Snell)
Pitching in the minors.
Duaner Sanchez, 5/2003
Claimed off wiavers by the Dodgers in November 2003.
Jose Silva, 9/1998
Had shoulder surgery that did not cost him a year in November 1999. Traded to the Reds in December 2001.
Cory Stewart, 9/2004
Shot twice with a stun gun by cops during a fight in May 2005. Pitching in the minors.
Jon Van Benschoten, 2/2002, 1/2003, 1/2004
Too late to count: Shoulder surgery July 2005.
Ryan Vogelsong, 7/2002
Pitching in the majors.
Jeff Wallace, 4/1998, 5/1999
Claimed off waivers by the Pirates in December 2000.
Chris Young, 7/2001, 10/2002
Traded to the Expos in December 2002 as part of the Matt Herges deal.
Comments
One Response to “The Attrition War, Pirates”
What I’ve noticed, more then anything, is how many #1 / #2 pitching prospects end up hurt.
I wonder if there’s something to that.