Staying healthy is a blend of talent, skill, and luck. As most of us know, Duchscherer is missing some part of that equation. Here is a look at his injury history. It's probably incomplete but still impressive.
2001--Debut season. No official visit to the major league DL, but he was shut down the last week of the season with a shin injury. 14 major league innings.
2002--Wikipedia says much of this season was lost to a lower back injury but I could not confirm that. Take Wiki for what it's worth. 63 minor league innings, no time in the majors.
2003--JD spent most of this year in AAA. Rich Harden was on the same team. That must have been a trainer's nightmare. 16 major league innings.
2004--Healthy!!! Pitched 96 innings out of Oakland's pen.
2005--One trip to the DL with back spasms but still pitched 85 innings as a reliever.
2006--Missed 37 games with an elbow injury. 55 innings of relief.
2007--It gets really dicey around here. A right hip injury sent Duchscherer to the 60-day DL. 16 innings pitched.
2008--As a starter, Duch set his career high in innings pitched with 141 despite missing time in April (bicep) and August (hip).
2009--Missed the entire year after elbow surgery and a struggle with clinical depression. The Sun article I just linked is very sympathetic to Duch. A lot of people would have hit the "reset" button at that point in their lives. Duchscherer is still pushing through.
2010--Surgery on right hip. Pitched 28 innings.
2011--Hip still hurts. Pitched two spring training innings.
The Orioles gave Duchscherer an incentive-heavy contract hoping he would provide depth and give the young pitchers a little extra time in the minors. It was worth a shot but after going through that history I think the correct mindset is to forget Justin Duchscherer exists. If he is able to come back and pitch, great! I'll believe it when I see it.
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