A broader look

Now more than ever, health is a team’s true wealth. Pitching injuries have been everywhere this spring. Rangers team doctor Keith Meister recently spoke to The Athletic about the risks of using a sweeper of power changeup. Several teams will have to make do without top starters for at least the first month of the season, including the Rangers (Max Scherzer, Jacob deGrom), Brewers (Devin Williams), Astros (José Urquidy), Yankees (Cole), Blue Jays (Kevin Gausman), and Red Sox (Giolito). The Twins will start the season without starter Anthony DeSclafani and closer Jhoan Duran.

Pitchers around the league have also voiced concerns that MLB’s pitch clock is contributing to the problem, and the updated rule – pitchers now have 18 seconds, rather than 20 to deliver the ball with runners on base – could make matters worse. When the change was put to a vote during the offseason, all four players’ union representatives were against, while the six league representatives voted in its favor.

The unrest doesn’t end there. As The Athletic’s Evan Drellich reported late Monday night, there’s also a “mutiny” a-brewing in the player’s association. After years of agent Scott Boras’ allegedly exercising “outsized influence” with union leaders, this offseason’s slow and cheap free agency pushed dozens of players and agents around the league to the breaking point. On Monday evening, several of the 38 major and 34 minorleague player reps made it clear to executive director Tony Clark that they want Harry Marino, a former MLBPA lawyer and champion of minor-leaguers, to replace deputy director Bruce Meyer.

The 2024 season is unwritten, but it’s sure to be quite a story.