Told you so: Spencer Strider blasted MLB for injury crisis even before own injury

The MLB has a pitcher injury crisis on their hands.

On the same day that Guardians ace Shane Bieber and Yankees reliever Jonathan Loaisiga were officially lost to season-ending injuries, the Braves also got bad news on Spencer Strider. He has damage to his UCL and needs to see a specialist to determine what to do next.

Shane Bieber and Eury Perez have needed Tommy John surgery and Spencer Strider has serious elbow concerns. Gerrit Cole is out until at least June with elbow issues, too.

There are almost too many pitchers to name who have or will have Tommy John surgery to repair arm injuries in the last month.

And it just so happens that Strider was one of the loudest voices calling out MLB for enacting policies that are detrimental to the health of pitchers back in spring training.

Spencer Strider took MLB to task on pitcher injuries before elbow injury

"There's an injury epidemic in the game regardless of velocity," Strider said "If anything, the league is making rule changes despite an injury epidemic that could very well be encouraging injuries."

The Braves ace cited the pitch clock, limits on roster spots for pitchers, rules restricting pitching changes and mound visits: "All those things are making pitching harder and potentially, I think, making health more difficult to manage."

Strider warned MLB that their current approach to injuries isn't working.

"With injury rates where they are, I don't know how we can blindly decrease the clock after the worst injury season in baseball, arguably, without having a conversation about injuries," Strider said. "The league talks about creating more action on the field. Well, when the best players in the league are hurt, how much interest is there in the game?"

Now Strider, one of the best players in the league, is hurt and he's likely to miss a whole lot of time.

There is an ongoing debate about the root of the latest rash of injury issues for pitchers. Some argue that rising velocity is putting strain on a pitcher's arm to the point that injury is inevitable. Strider argues the other side: MLB's initiatives to speed up the pace of play have had unintended consequences.

As with most debates, the answer is likely somewhere in the middle. The pitch clock has been widely embraced as an improvement in the watchability of games. Doing away with it now doesn't seem feasible. But increasing roster spots for pitchers seems like something the league should explore at the very least.

Meanwhile, pitchers and teams need to evaluate what they ask of pitchers and whether a change of approach, at the cost of velo, could be better for long-term health and injury prevention.