Detroit Tigers: The training staff is not responsible for the all of the injuries

The training staff has nothing to do with all of the injuries for the Detroit Tigers

I shouldn’t have to write this article. It should be common knowledge that the athletic training staff has nothing to do with the amount of injuries a sports team suffers. But unfortunately, my hand has been forced.

We’re all frustrated by the amount of injuries the Detroit Tigers have suffered. I get it. But this isn’t a video game. The athletic training staff has no control over the amount of injuries the Tigers have dealt with this season.

This narrative really caught some steam yesterday after Jeimer Candelario went down with a left shoulder injury after diving for a ball. Surely, Doug Teter and his staff have a ton of control over that.

There’s no way the the training staff could have prevented Candelario from getting injured while diving for a ball. None. It was just bad luck.

In fact, many of the Tigers injuries have been a product of bad luck, such as Michael Pineda getting struck in the pitching hand by a line drive. What was the training staff supposed to do there? Use Jedi mind tricks to will the ball away from Pineda?

Or how about when Riley Greene fouled a ball off his foot late in spring training, leading to a fracture? What’s the training staff supposed to do in that situation? Turn his foot into stone?

The only argument I can MAYBE see some blame on the training staff is all the injuries to the pitching rotation. That’s where most of the injuries have been. But even then, the lockout messed with their usual offseason training regimen. Team facilities were closed. There was a shortened spring training. Starting pitchers live on routine. That’s why teams try to have them pitch every five days as much as possible.

This is the same training staff as last season. While the team still had their fair share of injuries last season, it wasn’t nearly as much as this season. Where was all the uproar over the training staff in 2021?

Fans are understandably looking for answers when it comes to all the injuries, so they point the blame on the training staff. But it just doesn’t work that way. The Detroit Tigers have had a ton of bad luck when it comes to injuries, and that’s really all that can be said.