Fantasy Baseball: On the pitcher injury epidemic that robbed us of Spencer Strider, Shane Bieber, Eury Perez [Video]

Injuries are a normal part of baseball. What we saw this weekend was not.

First came the news Thursday that Eury Perez would indeed need Tommy John surgery after the Marlins had already assured us there was no structural damage in his elbow, only inflammation. It was a gut punch that made me question the flow of information from team to reporter to general public, but Perez’s elbow had been a subject of consternation for long enough that I could at least process the news.

Then came word Friday that Spencer Strider, the top pitcher in all of Fantasy, had left his start complaining of elbow soreness. There could be no preparing for that news. I feared the worst, and those fears were eventually confirmed by way of MRI. He has damage to his UCL, and while Tommy John surgery hasn’t been prescribed yet, his season …