ESPN – Boston Red Sox reliever Carson Smith suffered a subluxation of his right shoulder when he threw his glove in the dugout Monday night, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told reporters Tuesday. Smith was placed on the 10-day disabled list Monday, but Dombrowski said there was no timetable for his return. Dombrowski called the injury “unfortunate” and said Smith is seeking a second opinion. “It’s got the potential of being a major injury,” he said. Smith allowed an eighth-inning home run to the Athletics’ Khris Davis in Boston’s 6-5 loss Monday night. When Smith left the mound he threw his glove in frustration, causing the injury. Smith is 1-1 with a 3.77 ERA and 18 strikeouts over 14.1 innings pitched. Left-handed pitcher Bobby Poyner has been called up from Triple-A Pawtucket.
Can’t make this shit up guys. As much as the Patriots have been filling the tabloids this offseason, the Red Sox literally are never not a soap opera. How a professional athlete can dislocate his shoulder throwing a small piece of leather yet is fine repeatedly throwing a baseball 95 mph is beyond me.
If this wasn’t comical enough, Carson Smith then came out and essentially blamed how the team has used him for the injury.
“I think fatigue played a factor in my shoulder. My shoulder just couldn’t handle it.”
Carson Smith, the guy who has pitched a grueling 14.1 innings this season is complaining of being overworked. Granted 3 of his last 4 YEARS in the majors have been more or less on the shelf throwing 6.2 IP, 2.2 IP, 70 IP and 8.1 IP each of the last 4 years. So he may have been feeling a little fatigued, but you gotta start throwing the ball at some point.
Which brings me to my next point, its time for Dave Dombrowski to face the music a little bit. This guy has failed time and time again to build a respectable bullpen. Trading for Craig Kimbrel has been a huge plus as he’s been dominant, but that obviously taxed the farm system for future trade chips or depth. Acquiring one of the best closers in all of baseball by trading a ton of prospects isn’t exactly a groundbreaking chess move. After that though? He’s traded for guys with known injury histories like Carson Smith and Tyler Thornburg, who we STILL haven’t seen on the mound for the Red Sox yet despite having traded for him 17 months ago. Dombrowksi trades for these guys that are always injured and is then surprised when they get injured, leaving the team in a shitty spot. Same thing with Drew Pomeranz who was great last year, but is constantly on and off the DL.
Anybody can trade the farm for guys like Craig Kimbrel and Chris Sale and then sign the top free agents in David Price and JD Martinez. But its the little moves that make a great GM and ultimately build a championship team. Dombrowski has botched all of those little moves thus far and unless the Sox do something about it before the trade deadline, I worry this bullpen will be the weakness that ultimately sinks any World Series aspirations.
Categories: Red Sox
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