I guess you can say it’s me against the world ..The World Baseball Classic that is.
It’s not that I’m opposed to the tournament itself.
My concern is MLB pitchers hurting their arms. Let me be more specific,
my concern is YANKEE Pitchers hurting their arms.
I was relieved to hear that Masahiro Tanaka decided not to pitch for Japan
(he helped Japan win the Title in 2009 when he was only 20 years old ).
I’m sure the partially torn UCL in his pitching elbow & the opportunity
to opt-out of his current Yankee contract at the end of the season had a lot
to do with his decision.Whatever his reasoning was, the Yankees benefited
from his decision.
The 2017 International Tournament will run from March 6 – March 22
When you are pitching for your Country, in a tournament that starts on the 1st Monday in
MARCH, national pride & passion will have you throwing WAY too hard / WAY too early.
Dellin Betances has chosen to pitch for the Dominican Republic. Let’s put aside the fact
that he was born in NYC… Dellin is the perfect example of what I am talking about.
I recall his velocity being down in Spring Training in 2015. It wasn’t a problem because
ST games are meaningless & he didn’t push himself. When the season started in April, the
adrenaline kicked in, his velocity went up and he was fine.
But when pitching for the DR ( the defending WBC Champs ) he could easily overdo it by
throwing triple digits before his arm is ready because he does not want to let down the team & Country.
Another point is that last year he ran out of gas in mid- September. Who can blame him.
He averaged 82 innings per season over the last 3 years (73 inn / ’16 , 90 inn / ’15 , 84 inn / ’14)
Is it fair to be concerned that Betances could run out of gas in mid-August vs. mid-Sept. this
year because of the WBC ?? Absolutely !!
The position players do not concern me as much, although I could bring up the fact that
Mark Teixeira got hurt hitting off a tee while practicing with Team USA back in 2013. That wrist injury
was the start of all of Mark’s health issues & numerous trips to the DL.
I have no problem with Didi playing SS for the Netherlands, but if Gary Sanchez plays for the Dominican Republic
there would be some definite concerns because the odds of a catcher getting hurt behind the plate are greater than any other
position player.
Just think about it. What if Dellin, Didi or Gary did get hurt during the World Baseball Classic and missed the MLB season ?
What in the WORLD would the Yankees do ?
As a die-hard Yankee fan,the bottom line is…it’s not about March 6 – 22. It’s ALL about April 2nd (NYY @ TB)
