There are athletes who are injury prone, and then there is a more rare group of athletes who are weird injury prone. If you’re a regular LBS reader, you know that the latter are our favorites. Los Angeles Angels pitcher Sean Burnett is one of those people.
Last year, Burnett had to miss about a week of spring training with the Washington Nationals after his back locked up while he was reaching up to put his glove in his locker. His back locked up again this year, and once again it had nothing to do with throwing a baseball. This time, Burnett’s back tightened up when he was putting his 4-year-old son into a shopping cart.
“Both are random things that weren’t baseball-related and didn’t happen on the field,” Burnett explained, via Mike DiGiovanna of the LA Times. “Last spring, it went away after a couple of days. This is the exact same thing. It’s early in spring training, so I can be more cautious, but I don’t think I will be out for long.”
Burnett, who underwent an MRI on Monday and saw a back specialist on Tuesday, said his level of concern on a scale of 1 to 10 is a one. He does not expect to be sidelined very long and certainly isn’t anticipating that he’ll miss the start of the regular season.
Hang onto your hats, folks, because we’re heading for a record. I don’t know if baseball players are just more open and honest about their injuries these days or what, but it’s only Feb. 19 and the ridiculous injuries are piling up at an incredible rate. Injury suffered at the hands of a pitching machine? Check. Snow-shoveling incident? Check. Sandwich-related injury? Check. Broken arm after playing with your kids? Check. It’s only just begun.
