Just because I haven’t posted much since I returned from DC doesn’t mean I’m not eating, sleeping and drinking baseball. It means that I haven’t been able to keep up with all that’s going on in Cactus League and Grapefruit games and the WBC,

I could link to mlb.com’s injury report, but most of the names wouldn’t ring a bell, which isn’t to say that their status isn’t important to their respective teams. I was happily surprised to see a dearth of seasons lost to Tommy John surgeries. As I posted earlier, I’m disappointed that so many guys are suffering oblique injuries/strains.

As is always the case, teams are having to reshuffle their decks and move on to points B, C, and D. Most of the teams pretend the injuries are no big deal and that they have the depth to maintain. Unfortunately, fans aren’t privy to the in’s and out’s and are left to trust otherwise untrustworthy PR departments and front offices.

Thankfully, only two Cub regulars, Kyle Hendricks and Seiya Suzuki are the only ones likely to miss opening day at Wrigley. I know some fans and the media will blame the WBC or the length of spring training on the injuries. I’ll argue that soft-tissue injuries are the “rage” and are not the result of games in March, but rather-poor conditioning or luck.

Each organization has a bevy of experts paid to prevent needless injury. The layers of medical professionals is mind-blowing. At some point these injuries are going to have to fall on the players. And for the money they are making, they shouldn’t miss as many games as they do.