Welcome to The Opener, where every weekday morning during the regular season you’ll get a fresh, topical column to start your day from one of SI.com’s MLB writers.
The pitcher dealt with a nagging arm injury last year—ultimately causing him to miss the playoffs and log the fewest innings he had in any full season since he was a rookie. In the winter, he needed to reconfigure his offseason program for additional treatment and rest, and when he was able to start working out again, there was no structured opportunity for him to do so: A lockout meant that spring training had to be pushed back and then cut short.