2016 Position Players
As mentioned, Pham was one of a few of the positional guys who appeared for some time on the disabled list. But, there were others…
Moving around the diamond, first up is Adams who appeared on the disabled list for a total of 107 days due to a quad injury. He seems to be bouncing back well in the 2016 spring, but does his history of quad injury (for a first baseman) indicate a red flag for this season?
In order to examine other injuries witnessed in 2015, our examination moves directly to the outfield. Moving around the diamond, St. Louis was quite lucky that none of the other infield positions experienced injuries. That was last year, and the team has already experienced injury in the infield Peralta.
Mr. Holliday hates Star Wars Night at Busch Stadium, thanks in large part to him becoming a magnet for injury on these nights. In 2015, Holliday sat on the disabled list for 87 days thanks to a quad injury. Holliday, at 36-years-old, is growing older and it is reasonable to expect that additional injuries could befall him.
To this end, while it hasn’t landed him on the DL, he has sat out already thanks to ailing back issues. Does this make him the next injury candidate?
Tommy Pham
Pham was an early injury in 2015 falling prey to a quad injury (anyone else noticing a pattern here?). Pham’s injury landed him a 72-day ticket on the DL. We have seen good things from him this spring, but he does have an extensive history of injuries, which might make him prone for additional issues.
Another Cardinal outfielder who fell on the DL last season was Randal Grichuk. At just 23-years-old in 2015, Grichuk suffered elbow and back issues that landed him on the DL for a total of 51 days. While he has arrived at spring training in top-notch shape (some might say Adonis-like shape), will this increase in muscle mass help him avoid injury?
With these injuries around the position players in 2015, any of these guys could be the next to be injured in 2016.
Next: Pitchers