As we all know, injuries are very common in the game of baseball and can alter a team’s season drastically. You can’t predict them, you can only try to prevent them. Injuries are costly and change a team’s direction. So far in this young MLB season, the Tampa Bay Rays have suffered two key injuries that could possibly hurt their playoff chances.
For the past six or seven years, the Tampa Bay Rays have been known for their pitching. They have always had great pitching, which many believe has been the reason for their success. With that being said, the Rays took a major hit when they lost Matt Moore and Alex Cobb due to injury. One was more serious than the other, but both may have long term effects on the team.
Matt Moore is an incredible young starting pitcher. He has been an anchor for this Rays rotation since debuting late in the 2011 season. A couple weeks ago, he suffered a torn ligament in his elbow on his throwing arm which required season ending surgery. Losing him for the season is huge because no one can quite duplicate what he does. Alex Cobb is another young starter who caught the injury bug recently. He has been very consistent and posted some great numbers until suffering his oblique injury about a week ago. He will miss about a month and a half which feels like forever.
These injuries are huge because there are rumors that if the team has a poor year, They may think about trading superstar ace David Price. Rays fans want him to stay long term but know if they don’t perform, he may have to go. Hopefully their offense will pick up the slack and guys will step up and carry the load.