World Baseball Classic vs injuries

[Snapolit1]

Originally Posted by seanofjapan

Well, you aren’t arguing that baseball players shouldn’t be doing gratuitously dangerous things like visiting crack houses (which most would agree is sensible). Rather you are arguing that baseball players shouldn’t be playing in…baseball games.

That seems a stretch to me.

Baseball players who are coming back from a 4 month vacation and are purportedly getting ready for their season to start should not all of a sudden be whisked away and be thrown into a high stakes, highly competitive, intense international tournament.

Amazing to me there hasn't been a catastrophic injury before.

I wonder how the response would be if the player who was not out for the year was Ohtani or Trout . . . and not a (lol) NY Met.

[Snapolit1]

I think the WBC is a great thing for baseball to expand and develop fans around the world. I think having it in spring training is idiocy. I realize players might be tired and not want to do it when the season ends. I am not rooting against it generally, but just don't see how you do timing wise.

[seanofjapan]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

I think the WBC is a great thing for baseball to expand and develop fans around the world. I think having it in spring training is idiocy. I realize players might be tired and not want to do it when the season ends. I am not rooting against it generally, but just don't see how you do timing wise.

Yeah, if its just the timing you object to then your argument makes a lot more sense. Thanks for the clarification.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

Baseball players who are coming back from a 4 month vacation and are purportedly getting ready for their season to start should not all of a sudden be whisked away and be thrown into a high stakes, highly competitive, intense international tournament.

Amazing to me there hasn't been a catastrophic injury before.

I wonder how the response would be if the player who was not out for the year was Ohtani or Trout . . . and not a (lol) NY Met.

It's a non contact sport, remember? These aren't weekend warriors anyhow, these are professional athletes who train year round. This was just a freakish thing, could have happened any time. I see no reason to move the WBC.

[Smarti5051]

This seems like alot of argument over a truly freak injury. I don't think the viability of the WBC should hinge on whether a player could potentially suffer a non-game related injury. If you are a Mets fan, I can understand being frustrated, but to suggest the WBC is the cause of an increase in serious player injuries seems like a stretch.

In a sense, the WBC is the same thing as Spring Training. They are playing baseball. They are trying to be successful. The managers are well aware of their MLB commitments and limit their innings to minimize injuries (just like the managers do in the Spring Training games).

It would be interesting to see what percentage of MLB WBC players have sustained injuries limiting their availability for regular season MLB games and compare that to the percentage of MLB players participating in Spring Training that have sustained the same injuries. My guess is that over the past decade, the numbers are fairly comparable.

[Jim65]

Saying a player could be hurt doing ... isn't a fair argument. The fact is Diaz was hurt in WBC, not Spring training or working out or slicing a bagel. I don't blame the WBC, but these players, especially pitchers are playing full speed when they should be getting ready for the season. Its a disaster waiting to happen when you see pitchers like Ohtani throwing 102 MPH during March.

[nolemmings]

Originally Posted by Jim65

Saying a player could be hurt doing ... isn't a fair argument. The fact is Diaz was hurt in WBC, not Spring training or working out or slicing a bagel. I don't blame the WBC, but these players, especially pitchers are playing full speed when they should be getting ready for the season. Its a disaster waiting to happen when you see pitchers like Ohtani throwing 102 MPH during March.

The US staff is basically made up of guys who do not throw that hard, or at least who do not rely on the hard stuff. The same can be said of other teams in the tournament if you exclude late inning relievers who are only out there for a short time. And BTW, Ohtani hit 99 mph in his Spring debut for the Angels last year when there was no WBC. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/...i-mound-debut/

Look, risk is always going to be there, but then again so is the chance of freak injury. These guys want to play in the WBC, and are given ample notice to prepare for something other than a leisurely, gradual training regimen. Some even play Winter ball as well. Having attended two of the WBC games this week, I welcome the tournament. On an unrelated note, it is really no more expensive and in fact sometimes cheaper to see these games than it is to watch the Cactus League games, with of course the quality of play much better.

[Snapolit1]

It can be a great tournament and the timing can be terrible. Both things can be true.

[Republicaninmass]

Worse things can happen

And here is a card