Chips on the Shoulder

Pitching a baseball has been described as the most violent action in all of sports. As such, it's no surprise that arm injuries are so common among big-league pitchers. The Twins have their share of experience with devastating arm injuries with Francisco Liriano having sat out the 2007 season after Tommy John surgery and Pat Neshek set to do the same this year. They are lucky to enter the 2009 season with all five members of their rotation seemingly healthy, but in the bullpen, concerns are brewing.

The question that begs asking: will shoulder injuries become a nightmare for the 2009 Twins? They've struck two of the team's right-handed bullpen arms in recent years, and now questions have surfaced surrounding the closer. We can't forget that shoulder issues are not far in Glen Perkins's rearview mirror.

Jesse Crain appears fully recovered from the shoulder operation he underwent in 2007, but Boof Bonser is set to miss the upcoming season after having shoulder surgery of his own. Now, Joe Nathan has announced that he's withdrawing from the World Baseball Classic due to some shoulder issues. The problem is currently being labeled a sore acromioclavicular (AC) joint and there is no indication that it is serious, but given my worrisome nature when it comes these matters, the news that Nathan has been feeling discomfort when throwing immediately sent pings of terror to my very core.

Nathan is among the most important and irreplaceable players on the Twins roster, and losing him for any extended portion of time could seriously jeopardize the team's chances of contending in '09. The loss of its last remaining true right-handed power arm could spell doom for a bullpen already shrouded in questions and concerns.

Of course, I must repeat that the reports that have come out so far don't give any true cause for alarm and I'm probably just worrying too much. Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of this news is that with Nathan abandoning Team USA, my obligations as a Twins fan almost force me to cheer for Canada in Saturday's match-up. Hopefully that's the worst thing to come out of this.

WBC Thoughts

Before I get started on today's post, I'd like to put out a casual invite for all readers to join me and a few other bloggers and Twins fans at Buffalo Wild Wings in Roseville this Saturday at 1 pm, where we'll be taking in the USA/Canada WBC match-up. With Justin Morneau, Jesse Crain and Corey Koskie all potentially participating, the game should feature plenty of Twins-related goodness and also just presents a good opportunity to catch some live baseball in early March.

Now, I've mentioned in the past that I'm a fan of the World Baseball Classic and don't fully understand what there is not to like about it. In a chat held on his Web site last Wednesday, Aaron Gleeman (who may or may not be attending our little gathering), reiterated his disinterest in the tournament by noting, "Seems sort of silly if the best players aren't playing and I don't blame them for not playing." I don't disagree with Aaron terribly often (some will tell you never), but that seems like an odd take to me. The top three finishers in last year's AL MVP race -- Dustin Pedroia, Morneau and Kevin Youkilis -- all are participating. Of the five players Gleeman mentioned as his top five fantasy picks in the aforementioned chat -- Hanley Ramirez, Jose Reyes, Albert Pujols, David Wright and Alex Rodriguez -- all but Pujols are participating. Elite players like Carlos Beltran, Jimmy Rollins, David Ortiz, Jason Bay, Felix Rodriguez and Carlos Zambrano are all expected to take part. While it's true that a number of top players have chosen to sit out the WBC for various reasons, the idea that this tournament will feature nothing but scrubs and second-tier players is certifiably false. Plenty of Major League Baseball's best and brightest will be representing their country in the event.

Furthermore, the WBC provides an opportunity to watch international players and minor-league players that the casual fan can rarely see in action. Aside from Twins farm-hands such as Luke Hughes and Carlos Gutierrez, I'll be interested in catching a glimpse of Yu Darvish, the 22-year-old Japanese phenom who went 16-4 with a 1.88 ERA and 208-to-53 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 200 2/3 innings for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters last year.

Whether or not you care about who wins, I see little reason for any baseball fan to be totally uninterested in catching at least a few games of the World Baseball Classic. If you're looking for a place to start, feel free to join us on Saturday.