Boston Red Sox pitcher Carson Smith suffered an odd injury on Monday, and now the team is defending themselves after he seemed to blame something preventable for his misfortune.
Smith hurt his shoulder after throwing his glove in frustration in the dugout on Monday, and may be out for an extended period of time. Smith claimed fatigue may have played a role in the injury, but both Red Sox manager Alex Cora and team president Dave Dombrowski dismissed that as a possible cause on Wednesday.
“I don’t agree with it,” Cora said, via ESPN. “On a daily basis, we talk to pitchers and see how they feel. If they don’t feel that they can pitch that day, we stay away from them.
“It caught me by surprise. If he felt that way, he should have talked to us.”
Dombrowski concurred, pinning the injury solely on the glove throw.
Dombrowski on Smith: 'Pitchers are often tired during the season. Managers do their best to balance rest w needs of club. I do not feel that there is any correlation between Carson being tired & his injury. It is apparent that his throwing of the glove caused the injury.'
— Michael Silverman (@MikeSilvermanBB) May 16, 2018
One can see why the Red Sox would be defensive about this. Smith’s injury was a silly freak event, and they don’t want anything to do with being blamed for it. Of course, if Smith really was that fatigued, it reflects poorly on the team and their coaching staff for continuing to push him.
