I read Deduno has a sore arm now. It got me thinking about this year...from memory:

 

Nick Blackburn who had an outside shot at making the rotation has been hurt all year.

 

Cole Defries who probably won a spot in the rotation out of Spring Training - out of the year

 

Scott Diamond who was being counted on for stability had surgery during the off-season and has been ineffective all year.

 

Vance Worely - Opening day Starter. Obviously wasn't healthy this year coming off surgery and is now out for the rest of the year.

 

Sam Deduno - had a good shot of making the rotation after the WBC, but got hurt late in Spring and is now hurt again.

 

Mike Pelphrey -Coming off TJ has shown flashes, but generally ineffective

 

Kyle Gibson - Coming off TJ has shown flashes, but generally ineffective

 

Anthony Swarzak - Had outside shot at rotation, but due to "horsing around" got a late start and ended up in the pen (where he's been great)

 

Liam Hendricks - Made the team out of Spring, but didn't seem healthy. Eventually went on DL after being demoted to AAA

 

Pedro Hernandez - Made some spot start, but not sure if he was 100% healthy this year. Recently on DL

 

Alex Meyers - Big prize of off season, has been hurt for half the year.

 

Alex Wimmers - Coming back from TJ

 

That's all I can think of off the top of my head. It seems like pitchers are never healthy these days. The last healthy rotation I found for the Twins was back 2004:

Santana (228 innings)

Radke (219 innings)

Silva (203 innings)

Lohse (194 innings)

 

They need to find a couple old-timey "Rubber Armed" guys for next year's rotation or their very good bullpen will certainly start burning out arms.

That seems to be the state of the game these days. Durable, effective starters are at a premium and cost big money. The Twins haven't "struck gold" on anyone in their organization and certainly haven't spent the money to bring in a guy who could reasonably be expected to throw a lot of innings and have an ERA at or under 3.5. I haven't given up hope long term on many of the guys listed, but the path seems to be full of bumps and pitfalls.

What has changed? To me, coddling of pitchers and crybaby attitudes. Many people get tired of Bert's rambling about his philosophies, but I would love that attitude in players/coaches. Talent has to be a factor too. I can't get over how much terrible luck the Twins have had with injuries and wonder why is happening. I don't pay enough attention to other teams' injuries to know how widespread this is.

What has changed? To me, coddling of pitchers and crybaby attitudes. Many people get tired of Bert's rambling about his philosophies, but I would love that attitude in players/coaches. Talent has to be a factor too. I can't get over how much terrible luck the Twins have had with injuries and wonder why is happening. I don't pay enough attention to other teams' injuries to know how widespread this is.

 

The Twins are far from unique for injuries.

 

I think it has more to do with advanced medical diagnosis. Also increased velocity. Arms aren't designed to throw this many pitches this hard.

Whats amazing about all of this, is the fact the Twins actually have a decent shot to win 72+ games

I think pitchers hide their minor injuries less, because they have less fear of losing their jobs. While statistically-speaking there are many 'replacement-level' pitchers, most big-leaguers can continue to get contracts if they've had even a modest amount of success. Guys like Thomas/Mastroianni are one DL>>Slump combo from being forgotten.

Whats amazing about all of this, is the fact the Twins actually have a decent shot to win 72+ games

 

Let's hope they do better than they did in 2011 at end of season. That year they had exactly the same win-loss record as they do this year after 123 games. They ended up winning only 63.