The Alamo Short Stacks and Nashville Aristocrats enter Saturday in 1st and 4th place, but both look set to lose their ace due to elbow injuries that continue to claim some of the top pitchers in the sport. Spencer Strider, handed the largest contract in RDBL History for a pitcher, complained of elbow pain after lasting just four innings Friday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The right-hander is scheduled to receive a MRI this morning with an IL-stint all but guaranteed. The injury follows a hamstring strain to off-season acquisition Justin Steele, leaving the Stacks two short from their Opening Day rotation.
The more shocking news came Saturday morning as Guardians officials announced that ace Shane Bieber will undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the remainder of 2024.
The devastating news comes on the heels of an injury-shortened 2023 campaign for the right-hander, as Bieber was limited to 128 innings while missing about two and a half months due to elbow inflammation. He returned from the 60-day injured list to make two starts in late September, which seemingly indicated that the problem was behind him, and that Bieber could now look forward to a more normal offseason and ramp-up routine. However, as the Guardians’ statement indicates, Bieber had some discomfort in his elbow following his first start this year, and the problem continued through his next outing.
Certainly nothing appeared to be amiss in terms of results, given that Bieber looked completely dominant in tossing 12 shutout innings and recording 20 strikeouts (against just one walk and 10 hits allowed) over his two starts. This will now unfortunately mark the last we’ll see of Bieber on a big league mound for the next 13-15 months, and we might have already seen his final outing in a Cleveland uniform since he is a free agent this winter.
The 'Crats took a big hit in the field as well as Trevor Story came up in significant pain after diving for a ball in the hole. He's expected to have a MRI on his shoulder today, but all signs point to a long absence.
The Asti Grape Stompers couldn't avoid the injury bug either as Luis Robert, Jr. suffered a right hip flexor injury during Friday's loss against the Royals, Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Manager Pedro Grifol said after the game that more information on Robert's injury will come after he gets X-rays on Saturday, but he confirmed that the issue is in the outfielder's right hip. Robert has battled hip issues before in his career, missing roughly three months of the 2021 season due to a right hip flexor injury. Should Robert have to miss an extended period of time, Kevin Pillar would likely fill in as Chicago's center fielder.
Projected Starters for Saturday, 4/6
Stacks: N/A (Winn vs. SD if Strider hits IL Today)
Falcons: N/A
Grapes: N/A
Aristocrats: Miller (@ MIL)
Clovers: Gausman (@ NYY), Ryan (vs. CLE)
Hammerheads: N/A
Maulers: N/A
Goutfish: Whitlock (@ LAA)
Ducks: Blackburn (@ DET), Maeda (vs. OAK), Fried (vs. ARZ)
Fish: N/A
Fringe: N/A
Devils: King (@ SF)
Jokers: Wacha (vs. CHW), Hall (vs. SEA)
Hops: Gray (vs. HOU), Suarez (@ WSH)
Tacos: N/A
Top 10 Pitchers
1 Brady Singer (Fightin' Fish), 62.0
2. Tyler Glasnow (Clovers), 55.0
3. Marcus Stroman (Ducks), 54.0
T-4. Merrill Kelly (Devils), 53.0
T-4. Cody Bradford (Free Agent), 53.0
T-4. Garrett Crochet (Goutfish), 53.0
7. Ronel Blanco (Grapes)52.0
T-8. Shane Bieber (Aristocrats), 51.0
T-8. Nathan Eovaldi (Ducks), 51.0
T-10. Jordan Hicks (Falcons), 50.0
T-10. Cristian Javier (Aristocrats), 50.0
T-10. Zack Wheeler (Falcons), 50.0
Top 10 Hitters
1 Mookie Betts (Devils), 66.5
2. Freddie Freeman (Clovers), 44.5
3. Will Smith (Goutfish), 41.5
4. Bobby Witt, Jr. (Grapes), 39.5
5. Michael Conforto (Grapes), 39.0
6. Tyler O'Neill (Falcons), 38.0
7. Jarren Duran (Hammerheads), 37.5
8. Spencer Steer (Grapes), 37.0
9. Teoscar Hernandez (Stacks), 35.0
10. Ketal Marte (Ducks), 33.5