Ongoing Attempts, May 2, 2024: Baseball can be so cruel

Mike Trout's latest knee injury headlines a tough week of injury news.

Author

Hayden Kane
May 02, 2024

Mike Trout might have been on track to put himself back in the MVP conversation. He started the season on fire, pacing the rest of the league in home runs for the first couple weeks.

Even as some of his other numbers came back to earth, he was still generally looking like himself. We weren’t getting peak Mike Trout, but we were never going to see that again. For that matter, we might never see it again from him or anyone else. But we were seeing the very good version of Trout, maybe even a great player again.

There was a collective sigh from baseball fans this week, then, when we learned that Trout will miss extended time with a knee injury. He’s not out for the season, but it’s still a depressing injury for a guy who’s trying to distance himself from being labeled injury prone. Trout doesn’t even know what caused the injury or when it happened. His knee just started hurting.

The silver lining here might be the shared understanding that emerged as people reacted to Trout’s injury: we’re watching one of the best to ever play the game. With that in mind, people are clinging to the chance to see Trout play. We’re acknowledging the fact that we are lucky to be able to watch him, especially when he flashes the brilliance that he did through April.

Everyone seems to get it that we’re lucky to watch Mike Trout. Unfortunately, that also came through in the collective disappointment about his latest injury

In this week’s Ongoing Attempts:

  • Trout isn’t the only star player to get hurt this week

  • The Rockies are here to help

  • The Cubs have a stud pitcher in their rotation

  • This week’s Thursday Tidbits

Thanks for reading. On we go.

More injuries that are sucking the funny out of the room

The Minnesota Twins have tried everything with Byron Buxton. They started with him in the outfield full time, an immediate benefit because of his outstanding defense. It didn’t work. Buxton got hurt.

As the injuries persisted, the Twins sought a balance. They would keep him off his feet with some days off and some days at DH. It didn’t work.

They carefully managed his workload last season, confining his work to designated hitter and keeping him out of the field. He didn’t steal bases. They were cautious with his legs to the extreme in exchange for keeping his bat in the lineup.

It didn’t work.

This season, the Twins decided to cut Buxton loose full time in center field once again. He would play center field and be aggressive on the base paths. Maybe they were hoping nothing would happen if they just ignored his injury history. Or maybe they simply through their hands up and decided to get the most out of him while they can.

It didn’t work. Buxton is hurt once again, and it didn’t look good. In a cruel twist for those of us who like fun and were enjoying Buxton with no restrictions, he pulled up with the injury during a stolen base attempt. As if all of that weren’t enough, the injury occurred in the team’s 10th straight win.

When they’re healthy, Trout and Buxton remain near the very top of the list of the best players in baseball. Unfortunately, both guys struggle to stay on the field. We know that, and yet this still felt like a gut punch to have them both go down within one week.

And one more bummer of an injury

Grayson Rodriguez topped prospect lists for years. He made his debut to some fanfare, and things seemed like they were starting to click last season. So far in 2024, he was 4-1 with a 3.71 ERA for a very good Orioles team. The team announced this week that Rodriguez is going on the IL in a “precautionary move” because of shoulder inflammation.

Given the injuries this season, I think we all know we should keep our guard up on this one. A shoulder issue for a fun young pitcher on an exciting young team? I’ll assume the worst and be happy if there’s a pleasant surprise.

Big early season win for the Chicago Cubs

Lost a little bit in a busy offseason, the Cubs signed Japanese starting pitcher Shota Imanaga. He’s absolutely tearing it up so far, sporting a 0.78 ERA through five starts. If you enjoy funny stats as much as I do, that’s good for a 547 ERA+.

The Cubs are currently jockeying with the Milwaukee Brewers atop the National League Central. Having Imanaga at the front of their rotation will certainly help their cause, and it gives the rest of us a pitcher to look for when we’re scrolling for a game to watch on MLB TV.

Checking in with the Colorado Rockies

Is your team feeling down? Hit a rough stretch? The Rockies are here to help.

The Houston Astros are trying to prove they are still contenders after a brutal start to the season. They just couldn’t get things going. What did they need to tack on a couple wins and build momentum? How about an emphatic two-game sweep of the Rockies in Mexico City.

The Miami Marlins have been disastrous to start the season. They entered their series against the Rockies this week with a worse record: Miami was 6-24, while the Rockies were 7-21.

Three games later? The Marlins are 9-24. The Rockies are 7-24.

I cheer for a kind and generous team. They’re here to lift other teams up, to raise their spirits, to cheer them up with some easy wins. So what if they haven’t won a series all season. It’s the other teams that are being selfish, if you think about it.

  • Can you name the first place team in each division? It’s some chalk and some relative surprises with the Cleveland Guardians, Milwaukee Brewers, and Seattle Mariners all in first place.

  • You might have assumed that the Atlanta Braves are in first place in the National League East. And you would be correct. But did you know that Philadelphia Phillies are just a half game back?

  • Jay Jaffe wrote about the lack of home runs so far this season, noting that it’s too early to know what’s going on.

  • The whole regional sports network debacle goes over my head, but there was news this week with Bally Sports and Comcast. Are we headed towards more MLB broadcasts like the Padres?

  • If you play fantasy sports, you might know the feeling of making a trade that you regret. Last year, I traded Elly De La Cruz for Jordan Walker in a keeper league. It says a lot about how fun Elly is that it doesn’t take the fun out of it for me to see him lighting it up while Walker works things out in Triple-A.

  • To be fair, Walker was ranked ahead of De La Cruz on Baseball Prospectus and FanGraphs when I assessed the proposed trade. Consider this a reminder: it’s really hard for these prospects when they first get called up!

Seriously, Elly De La Cruz is amazing. Let’s have him take us out this week.

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