10 pitchers who must pick up the slack for injured teammates

"You can never have too much pitching." It's an adage you hear all the time in baseball. And you know why? Because eventually, you're going to lose some of it.

We've already seen a bunch of teams affected by injuries to former All-Stars and Cy Young Award winners during Spring Training. But there is no time to waste on feelings of woe with the regular season just beyond the horizon. It's time for some pitchers to up their game or be ready to step into new roles.

Here are 10 hurlers -- nine starters and one reliever -- who carry extra importance entering this season due to spring injuries to star teammates.

• 8 players who need to step up to replace key departures

Clarke Schmidt, Yankees
Gerrit Cole was MLB's most durable starting pitcher until he wasn't. Cole, who has reached 200 innings in five of the past six full seasons and whose lone trip to the injured list since 2017 was due to a COVID-19 diagnosis, is expected to be sidelined for a large chunk of this season with a right elbow injury. It’s a huge blow to a rotation that was poised to have Carlos Rodón, Marcus Stroman and Nestor Cortes lined up behind its sturdy ace. That trio missed significant time last year due to injuries and threw a combined total of 56 innings after July. Rodon did the bulk of that work and posted a 7.36 ERA over the season’s final two months.

So, the onus of innings eater kind of falls on Schmidt as he preps his second full big league season. His 2023 campaign featured peaks and valleys, concluding with a 4.64 ERA over 159 frames. Besides staying healthy, the 28-year-old will need to figure out a better plan of attack versus left-handed batters, who have a career .874 OPS against him.

Tylor Megill, Mets
The other team in New York will also begin the season without its No. 1 starter. Kodai Senga was shut down from throwing in February once he was diagnosed with a right shoulder strain. Megill appears to have the advantage for that now-open spot in the Mets' rotation, especially given how he has performed this spring.

Stepping in for a top-flight pitcher is a familiar task for Megill. He was New York's Opening Day starter in 2022 in the wake of injuries to Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer. He went on to allow only six earned runs through five starts (28 innings) that April. He then got the ball in the 2023 home opener in place of an injured Justin Verlander and spun six scoreless frames. It's unclear when Senga will return to the mound, but Megill has proven that he can hold down the fort while an All-Star hurler is out. He'll have to do it yet again.

Hunter Brown, Astros
Verlander won't be ready on Opening Day this year either as he works through a right shoulder issue. That will mean more is asked of everyone on the Astros' deep staff, including Brown, who looked Verlander-esque at times during his 2023 rookie year. Leading with his 96 mph fastball, Brown recorded a 26.8% strikeout rate in 155 2/3 innings. He carried a 2.87 FIP and a .664 opponents' OPS through his first 11 starts.

The 25-year-old, who was Houston's No. 1 prospect at the beginning of last year, then experienced a handful of forgettable starts during the season's second half, contributing to a 5.09 ERA. Brown admits that fatigue was a factor in those subpar outings, but that shouldn't be as much of a problem in 2024. He has ace potential, and Houston will need him to perform as one while its rotation leader is on the mend.

Abner Uribe, Brewers
Devin Williams' back injury creates massive instability in the Brewers' bullpen. There is no one-for-one replacement for a two-time NL Reliever of the Year with a 40.4% K rate and a 1.75 ERA since the start of 2020. However, Milwaukee does have a couple of intriguing options. Trevor Megill is a sneaky breakout candidate, and Uribe is must-watch material with a fastball that tops out at 103 mph. It would probably benefit him to use that pitch more in 2024.

Uribe, 23, leaned on a sinker that averaged 99 mph and a slider that sat just shy of 90 mph in his debut season. Those weapons helped him notch a 1.76 ERA and a .192 opponents' slugging percentage over 30 1/3 innings. With a 15.7% walk rate, things can get a little unpredictable with Uribe, but he could get closing opportunities while Williams is out just because of his powerful repertoire.

Kutter Crawford, Red Sox
Lucas Giolito, the Red Sox's biggest free-agent acquisition this winter, isn't expected to make his debut in a Boston uniform until 2025 after undergoing surgery on his right elbow. His absence means an extra spot in the rotation for Tanner Houck, Garrett Whitlock, Josh Winckowski or Cooper Criswell, the camp combatants for the No. 5 job. But it also means Boston will need better contributions from its rotation holdovers, including Crawford, who closed last year with a season-best start: six innings of one-hit ball versus the division-winning Orioles in Baltimore.

Crawford filled various roles through the first two months of the season. Once he became a full-time starter on June 3, he limited batters to an expected slash line of .206/.274/.371. Crawford's four-seamer stood out among his six-pitch mix as it registered a 34% K rate. With another step forward in his age-28 season, Crawford would give this starting staff a boost it so desperately needs.

Tyler Wells, Orioles
Injuries to Kyle Bradish and John Means have presented Wells with another chance to start for the O's. It's not something he takes for granted. The right-hander was tremendous as a starter through last season's first half, holding hitters to a .193 average, the third-best mark in franchise history (min. 100 innings). Only seven starters issued fewer walks than his 24 during that period.

The 6-foot-8 Wells pitched only 17 1/3 innings after the All-Star break as Baltimore reined in his workload. He finished the season in the 'pen, where he permitted only one hit and one walk over his final 8 1/3 innings (postseason included). This year, Wells' stated goal is to make 35 starts. That may be a touch too aspirational since he has never thrown more than 135 innings in any professional season. However, if the quality of Wells' innings comes close to repeating his early 2023 results, that will be a big plus for the club.

Jordan Wicks, Cubs
At the outset of Spring Training, there were four arms vying for the final spot in the Cubs' rotation: Wicks, Javier Assad, Drew Smyly and Hayden Wesneski. But another spot has become available following the news that Jameson Taillon will probably begin the season on the injured list due to lower back tightness. The lefty Wicks, who has a 2.60 ERA in 17 2/3 innings this spring, might have been the favorite for that No. 5 job even without an injury elsewhere. Now his role seems secure.

The Cubs' No. 9 prospect, Wicks' 34 2/3-inning introduction to the bigs last year had a few positives, including a lot of weak contact (33% hard-hit rate, 6.3% barrel rate) and a 70-grade changeup that lived up to the billing. That pitch assisted in Wicks' 50% ground-ball rate and had a .171 opponents' average. He's working to hone his curveball and slider as he prepares to be a prominent part of the Cubs' early-season pitching plans.

Bowden Francis, Blue Jays
Francis' 94 mph fastball and 74 mph curveball accounted for the large majority of the pitches he threw over 36 1/3 relief innings last season as a rookie. Those two offerings produced a .183 opponents' batting average and a .296 slugging. The 6-foot-5 right-hander will now take that combo into the Blue Jays' rotation, which will be missing ace Kevin Gausman on Opening Day and without Alek Manoah for an undetermined period of time. Both are coming back from shoulder injuries.

While Francis' 2023 results established his case for a starting role, his performance this spring has helped him leave no doubt that he's worthy of a spot while the aforementioned veterans heal up.

A.J. Puk, Marlins
After being effective in relief for the previous two seasons, Puk's transition back to starting is one of the more interesting storylines in Marlins camp. It has taken on extra importance with the growing list of injuries in Miami's rotation. Braxton Garrett and Edward Cabrera will not be available come Opening Day. Eury Pérez is dealing with a lingering fingernail issue. 2022 NL Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara is out for the year.

Puk, the No. 6 pick of the 2016 Draft by the A's, began his career as a starter before a rash of injuries contributed to a move to the bullpen. He might have the pitches to make this work, and the Marlins will need the transition to be seamless if they want to make back-to-back trips to the postseason for the first time in franchise history. Puk has never made a start in the big leagues and hasn't logged 70 innings in a season since 2017, so it's worth wondering how many innings he can provide this summer.

Ryan Pepiot, Rays
The Rays know they will be without three-fifths of their 2023 Opening Day rotation for much or all of this year as Jeffrey Springs, Drew Rasmussen and Shane McClanahan are recovering from elbow procedures. Shane Baz might make his return from Tommy John surgery in May. Plus, Tyler Glasnow was traded during the offseason. Given all that, it's feasible to guess that keeping the rest of their rotation healthy is the Rays' top goal this season.

Too late. Taj Bradley will open the year on the IL with a right pectoral strain. Thus the burden grows on the shoulders of Zach Eflin, Aaron Civale, Zack Littell and Pepiot, the one newcomer. The centerpiece of the Glasnow deal, Pepiot walked only five batters and produced a meager 27.4% hard-hit rate in 42 innings with the Dodgers last year. He'll need to be ready for much more work in his first year with Tampa Bay.