Baseball fans across the county cringed while watching the May 25 highlight of Florida Marlins outfielder Scott Cousins crashing into San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey.
As Posey rolled on the ground in agony, Giants followers knew the news would be bad. The medical diagnoses soon provided the worst possible information: Posey was lost for the season with a fractured fibula and ankle ligament damage.
Now the Giants are left without the reigning National League Rookie of the Year, a key part of their championship run. Luckily (or unluckily), San Francisco has experience dealing with injury replacements this season.
And considering what”s happened to the starting rotation across the bay, it”s becoming clearer that injuries could lead to mediocre seasons for both Bay Area teams in 2011.
Spring training injuries to starting outfielder Cody Ross and closer Brian Wilson contributed to the Giants” slow start, which continued into early May amid April injuries to centerfielder Andres Torres, third baseman Pablo Sandoval and starter Barry Zito.
Mid-May brought brighter days as Cody Ross and Torres reintegrated themselves into the lineup and Ryan Vogelsong, Zito”s replacement, stabilized the fifth-starter spot in the rotation.
San Francisco soon built a lead in the NL West, getting help from infield role players during Sandoval”s absence.
Then came the late-May series against the Marlins. In addition to losing Posey, the Giants were also forced to place infielder Mike Fontenot on the disabled list because of a groin injury sustained that same week.
So for the time being, San Francisco is missing its third baseman and No. 1 infield option off the bench, all while trying to figure out how to replace its starting catcher.
Without Posey for the rest of the season, and Sandoval until mid-June, the next few weeks could prove crucial because the Giants, 29-25 after May, trail in the division.
If healthy, the starting pitchers can dominate opposing lineups and put the team in position to win many games the rest of this season, but there”s a good chance the under-performing, injury-depleted offense won”t be able to score runs on a consistent basis.
Even if the Giants avoid losing any other starter from this point forward, the losses incurred because of these early-season injuries could prove too costly. To have any shot at making the playoffs, San Francisco needs continued great pitching, performance from role players, and health (and maybe a big midseason acquisition).
The story in Oakland has been different.
The Athletics have avoided injuries to their offensive players, none of whom have spent time on the DL this season – though most fielders could have been placed on the unable-to-perform list, as the A”s are near the bottom of the league in hitting but near the top in errors.
The problem for the A”s has been pitching health.
Oakland lost its most-veteran starting pitcher, Dallas Braden, to season-ending shoulder surgery after only three starts. Then Braden”s replacement, Tyson Ross, who posted a 2-2 starting record, was placed on the 15-day DL in mid-May with a strained left side.
To make matters worse, the A”s placed fifth starter Brandon McCarthy on the 15-day DL on the same day as Tyson Ross.
The team has gotten lucky so far as replacement starters Josh Outman and Guillermo Moscoso (Nos. 7 and 8 on the depth chart) have combined to go 3-0 with a sub-3.00 earned run average in their first four starts.
Still, Oakland cannot count on month-long consistency from starters who began the season in Triple-A; the team will need either McCarthy or Ross (if not both) to return from the DL and pitch well, while hoping that young guns Brett Anderson, Trevor Cahill and Gio Gonzalez each make it through the grueling season healthily.
Oakland”s other health problem was at the back end of the bullpen.
Closer Andrew Bailey made his season debut Sunday after missing nearly two months because of a spring training elbow injury. Fill-in closer Brian Fuentes performed decently at best, earning 11 saves despite a 4.63 ERA and boasting a 1-7 record through May.
Amazingly, the injuries haven”t hurt the A”s pitching statistics; the team continues to have the best team ERA in the league. But Oakland is just barely scraping along according to the categories that matter: wins and losses.
Sitting at 27-29 after May, the A”s remain close to the American League West leader but need to keep their pitchers healthy and really get their offense going (while remaining injury free) to avoid another season at or below .500.
Both Bay Area teams had high hopes coming into 2011 but stumbled to the end of May.
After two months, each is surely thankful to be in the hunt despite experiencing such healthy difficulties. Only with better injury luck will both teams become the hunted rather than the hunter in September.
Jeremy Walsh is a staff reporter for Lake County Publishing. He can be reached at 263-5636 ext. 37 or jwalsh@record-bee.com.
