Injuries and the A’s: Somebody put the Voodoo Doll Away

As May comes to a close, the A’s continue to suffer through a myriad of injuries. Spaced out of course of a full season, the groin pulls, hand ailments, and sore shoulders might not feel as debilitating as they do when they all happen within a months time. With hope on the horizon with the return(s) of Yoenis Cespedes, Brandon McCarthy, Brandon Inge, as well as the eventual recovery of Dallas Braden and Brett Anderson perhaps this season won’t be lost to the disabled list. That’s of course, assuming the injury bug leaves us alone.

While the A’s aren’t the only team to be heavily effected by injuries, the margin of error for Oakland is so slim that they simply cannot afford to lose their big guns for extended periods of time. As evidence by this past weekends onslaught at the hands of the Yankees. The A’s were simply overmatched and outgunned by the juggernaut that is New York. Now, I’m not saying that they would of run the Yankees out of town, but I would like to see the A’s with all hands on deck putting up a competitive fight against the Bronx Bombers. Having to rely upon the likes of Kila Ka’aihue and Seth Smith in the middle of your lineup is utterly absurd and completely embarrassing when compared to the lineup of nearly any competitor.

The reality is the A’s haven’t made a playoff appearance since 2006. What was once a string of winning seasons, and relatively good team health has avalanched into 5+ years of disappointing seasons and disheartening injuries to key players year in and year out. Let’s take a look at some of the key players that have missed extended periods of time in the years since.

2007: Rich Harden, Justin Duchscherer, Esteban Loaiza, Huston Street, Mark Kotsay, Milton Bradley, Mike Piazza, Eric Chavez, and Bobby Crosby.

2008: Chavez, Duchscherer, Kiko Calero, Travis Buck, and Frank Thomas.

2009: Buck, Chavez,Ellis, Duchsherer, and Josh Outman.

2010:  Chavez, Ryan Sweeeney, Duchscherer, Michael Wuertz, Coco Crisp, Andrew Bailey, Ben Sheets, Joey Devine

2011:  Ellis, Harden, Bailey, Wuertz, Devine, Brett Anderson, Dallas Braden, Brandon McCarthy

2012 (so far) : Anderson, Braden, Devine, Crisp, McCarthy, Yoenis Cespedes, Brandon Inge.

This is a problem. Whether it be groin pulls or Tommy John surgery, some of the A’s best and brightest seem to be simply made of glass. With repeat offenders like Eric Chavez and Justin Duchsherer literally losing years to injury, the team has quite simply been unable to fill their shoes. This epidemic has grown out of hand and whether the injuries are due to conditioning, injury history, or simply plain old bad luck. Something has to change, because enough is enough.