Under the Knife

By this time next week, MLB will have thrown their first pitch. Before that, they'll pitch several players on to the DL. Injuries often become the deciding factor in many of those last-minute roster decisions. A player may be healthy now, but might have missed opportunities to impress the coaching staff earlier in the spring due to even minor injuries.

The World Baseball Classic has come and mostly gone, leaving us a sparsely attended but passionately watched Caribbean final that should be a boon for Puerto Rico or the Dominican Republic.

I'll leave it for others to debate why the power teams of the USA and Venezuela went out so quickly, instead focusing on the lack of injuries. In fact, there's only one of any note, though there have been some minor injuries here and there, but nothing that doesn't happen at normal spring training. 

The Cardinals announced on Tuesday afternoon that Chris Carpenter would miss the 2013 season after a recurrence of shoulder problems. Carpenter missed the bulk of 2012 with a shoulder issue that was said to be corrected by surgery.