After a tough day on the MLB injury front, former white Sox shortstop turned manager Ozzie Guillen had an interesting take.
In the ninth inning of the White Sox' 2-1 loss to the Kansas City Royals on Friday night, Luis Robert Jr. doubled down the left-field line with one out, pulling up lame at second with a left hip flexor injury. Robert suffered a similar injury in 2021, missing over three months of the season.
On the White Sox postgame show, Guillen shared his thoughts, and he blamed intense conditioning:
Said Guillen, “You can't pull fat. I remember guys having 12 Budweisers and 3 hamburgers, and they played all year long.”
While that may or may not be true, there's no denying that the intense physical training that players go through in the modern age has elevated their performance. MLB is full of young stars like Ronald Acuna, Fernando Tatis, and Bobby Witt Jr., that possess an amazing array of power, speed, and athleticism that wasn't often found in previous generations.
Additionally, when players in previous generations suffered severe injuries, they were often never the same. Today players are much more frequently able to bounce back from injury without significant long-term issues.
A bad day for MLB injuries
In addition to the White Sox potentially losing Robert Jr. for an extended period of time, there were a couple of other rough injuries in baseball on Saturday.
The Cleveland Guardians have jumped out to a 6-2 start on the 2024 campaign, and two of those wins were courtesy of excellent starts from their ace Shane Bieber. Unfortunately, the Guardians have been dealt some crushing news, as Bieber picked up an elbow injury his latest start, and it was revealed that he will need to undergo Tommy John surgery, cutting his season short after those two sterling starts.
Bieber didn't have the greatest 2023 campaign by his lofty standards (6-6, 3.80 ERA, 107 K, 1.23 WHIP), but he looked wholly capable of putting together a Cy Young campaign over his first two outings of the year. Bieber coasted through six innings without giving up a run in each of his starts, striking out 11 Oakland Athletics and nine Seattle Mariners on the way to earning the win in both outings.
In addition, after a stellar first game, Atlanta Braves ace Spencer Strider gave up five runs and was suddenly pulled out of his start on Saturday.
Afterward, it was revealed that Strider underwent an MRI that revealed damage to the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. He will be further evaluated by Dr. Keith Meister in Arlington, TX, at a date yet to be determined.
While the White Sox, Guardians, and Braves are all understandably concerned with injuries to key players, they're likely not prescribing ‘Budweiser and hamburgers' to their players anytime soon.
Follow Us
Subscribe