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It's 12 seasons later and I thought I'd revisit Randy Craig. His ratings are slipping but he's still an amazing talent. But it's a sad tale of what might have been. He has been plagued by injuries:
1999: Oblique Strain, out 6 days
2000: Hamstring, out 6 weeks
2000: Sore Shoulder, out 7 weeks
2001: Foot contusion, out 1 week
2002: Torn Rotator Cuff, out 8-9 months
2003: Hamstring Strain, out 6 weeks
2003: Partially torn labrum, out 5 weeks
2004: Radial Nerve Compression, out 4-5 months
2004: Shoulder inflammation, out 5 weeks
2005: Fractured foot, out 3-4 weeks
2005: Elbow strain, out 2 months
2006: Torn Flexor tendon, out 14 months
2007: Severe Hip Strain, out 4-5 weeks
2007: Partially torn labrum, out 7-8 weeks
2009: Elbow inflammation, out 1 week
2009: Elbow strain, out 3 weeks
2009: Elbow inflammation, out 2 weeks
2009: Forearm stiffness, out 1 week
2010: partially torn labrum, out 4 months
2011: shoulder inflammation, out 6 months
2012: torn labrum, out 8 months
That's horrifying. And that doesn't even count a near constant stream of day-to-day injuries.
In 15 years he had only 3 more-or-less complete seasons: he started 32 games as a pitcher in 1999, 31 games in 2001 and 32 games in 2008. Those three seasons were excellent: 5.0, 9.6 and 6.0 WAR as a pitcher and 4.5, 5.1 and 7.3 has a hitter. Combined that's a 9.5 WAR season in 1999, a 14.7 (!) WAR season in 2001 and a 13.3 WAR season in 2008. He also had a 10.3 combined WAR in 2003 and started only 24 games. Extrapolated to 32 starts, that was on pace for a 13.7 WAR season. One can only imagine how good he would have been without all of the injuries.
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