More than ever there is a MacGyver element to a baseball season. Which teams are best at concocting rosters out of disparate parts?
Forget about attrition striking in the dog days of summer or with the wear and tear of the stretch run. We already have seen expected contenders have to flip to Plan B’s and C’s. Who is Yangervis Solarte for $100, Alex? Really, that Aaron Harang is a savior? I guess we can call off the Kevin Kouzmanoff search party.
Injuries are, yes (cliché alert), part of the game. Nevertheless, the infestation is forcing greater organization creativity and sturdiness. Forget March Madness, here in April we are seeing survive and advance (or not — hello, Arizona). These are the 10 clubs facing the most treacherous injury narrative to date:
Rangers
No team has had to put more players on the DL (11). And it has been major stuff. Texas’ top three starters — Yu Darvish, Derek Holland and Matt Harrison — began the year on the disabled list (Darvish is back and Harrison is getting closer). Starting catcher Geovany Soto (knee) and second baseman Jurickson Profar (shoulder) are going to miss months, and arguably the most vital Ranger (Adrian Beltre) is down with a thigh injury.
Tanner Scheppers, who never had started in the majors, ended up the Opening Day starter and struggled with a 9.32 ERA in four starts before also being put on the DL. Robbie Ross, who never had started before, has been brilliant (1.00). Kouzmanoff, last in the majors in 2011, has been a blessing (1.158 OPS) filling in for Beltre and picking up weight for new additions Prince Fielder and J.P. Arencibia, who have been dreadful. There is a bit of magic (luck?) keeping them afloat early with four walk-off wins in their first 16 games.
Reds
They were second to the Rangers with nine DL stints. They opened with one of their best starters, Mat Latos, and their three main late relievers — Aroldis Chapman, Sean Marshall and Jonathan Broxton — on the DL, and only Broxton has returned. They had a 5.18 bullpen ERA. Marshall (shoulder) is close to a return, and Chapman, who was struck in the face by a line drive in spring training, is throwing bullpen sessions. Alfredo Simon, who had not started in the majors since 2011, has come out of the bullpen to fill Latos’ spot well, going 2-1 with a 0.86 ERA.
Braves
They lost three-fifths of their rotation in the spring, with scheduled Opening Day starter Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy lost for the year (Tommy John surgery for both) and Mike Minor (shoulder) out for most of April. Yet, they led the majors in rotation ERA by nearly a run thanks to late signings of Ervin Santana and Harang and the continuing maturation of Julio Teheran and Alex Wood. Minor is due back by the end of the month, and Gavin Floyd, near the end of his Tommy John rehab, could be part of the rotation in May.
A’s
The AL version of the Braves — they lost their Opening Day starter, Jarrod Parker, to Tommy John surgery and A.J. Griffin (elbow) for a few months at least. Yet, the A’s were second in the AL in rotation ERA and, like the Braves, won 11 of their first 16 games. Sonny Gray looks as if he has grown into an ace, and Jesse Chavez (two career starts before this year) has transitioned from reliever to the rotation superbly (two walks, 22 strikeouts in 20 innings)
Diamondbacks
Unlike clubs such as the Braves and A’s, who have shown a resourcefulness over the years to cope with losses, the Diamondbacks have not been steady and sturdy and might be the first casualty of this season. They, too, lost their ace, Patrick Corbin, and a key reliever, David Hernandez, both to Tommy John surgery. That contributed to an MLB-worst 5.70 ERA and losses in 14 of their first 19 games.
Rays
There was a belief they had assembled their best roster ever, but — as always —the spine of the Rays was the rotation. But now Matt Moore (Tommy John surgery) is gone for the year, Alex Cobb (oblique) is down for a while and Jeremy Hellickson still is recovering from elbow surgery. And what makes bad news worse is how underwhelming Tampa’s offense has been.
Nationals
Redundant storyline of the offseason: Washington stole Doug Fister from Detroit, turning a strong rotation into a powerhouse and making the Nationals even more of a prohibitive NL East favorite.
But Fister (elbow, lat) is not due back until the first week of May at the earliest, and Washington’s rotation hardly has been a powerhouse (what is up with Stephen Strasburg?). And during the season, the Nats have lost third baseman Ryan Zimmerman (thumb) and catcher Wilson Ramos (hamate bone) for extended periods.
Padres
San Diego was a darling choice to “surprise” this season. But two-thirds of its starting outfield (Cameron Maybin and Carlos Quentin) has yet to play, and the latest club to hope Josh Johnson will rebound for it is now the latest club to see him miss extended time with arm problems.
Tigers
This is not about volume of injury but impact. They lost shortstop Jose Iglesias likely for the season with shin fractures, and their initial solution, Alex Gonzalez, has looked like a 37-year-old who has not been a regular shortstop since 2011. Do they have Stephen Drew on speed dial? They also lost Bruce Rondon, who they thought had grown into their main setup man, for the year to Tommy John surgery. And the relief area that likely cost Detroit a World Series trip last year remains problematic with Joba Chamberlain, among others, not solving the problem.
Yankees
We could go a lot of ways in the final slot with how much teams miss one key player: the Orioles (Manny Machado), Red Sox (Shane Victorino), Dodgers (Clayton Kershaw), Angels (Josh Hamilton) and White Sox (Avisail Garcia). The Rockies (Brett Anderson, Jhoulys Chacin, Tyler Chatwood) and Mariners (Hisashi Iwakuma, James Paxton, Taijuan Walker) have dealt with rotation blows. And the other New York team is going all year without its ace (Matt Harvey) and closer (Bobby Parnell) and has tag-teamed out one outfielder on the DL (Chris Young) for another (Juan Lagares).
But just to bring the MacGyver theme full circle, the injuries to Mark Teixeira, David Robertson and even Brendan Ryan have moved the Yankees to have Solarte and Dean Anna make their major league debuts in prominent roles, have four guys fill in at first for Teixeira (Kelly Johnson, Carlos Beltran, Francisco Cervelli, Scott Sizemore) who before this year had combined for three games (two starts) at the position and have Shawn Kelley save games for the first time in his career.