In today's Major League Baseball, elite starting pitching is more valuable than ever—but it's also more fragile than ever. The recent injuries to Tarik Skubal and Garrett Crochet are the latest reminders of a growing concern across the league. These two aces, who finished first and second in AL Cy Young voting in 2025, entered the 2026 season as the clear favorites to battle for the award again. Now, both are sidelined, and the implications are huge.

Crochet, already locked into a big contract with the Boston Red Sox, is dealing with shoulder issues. Skubal, who was expected to land one of the largest pitching contracts in history, is out for two to three months. For Skubal, a potential third straight Cy Young season is likely off the table. For teams around the league, the bigger takeaway is even more significant: this isn't just about two players—it's about a pattern.

MLB front offices continue to hand out massive contracts to starting pitchers, betting on sustained dominance. But time and again, durability becomes the issue. The human body simply isn't built for that level of repeated stress. It's not a matter of if an injury will happen—it's a matter of when. Elbows give out. Shoulders flare up. Velocity takes its toll. That makes long-term, high-dollar deals incredibly risky.

From a team-building perspective, the math is hard to justify. Investing heavily in one arm, whose role is inherently volatile, can backfire with a single injury. Instead of putting all their eggs in one basket, teams might be smarter to spread resources across multiple pitchers, prioritize depth, and focus on developing young arms. Relying on one ace to carry a staff is becoming increasingly dangerous.

Tarik Skubal and Garrett Crochet are elite talents. But their situations highlight a larger truth about modern baseball: paying big money for starting pitchers is a gamble—and more often than not, it doesn't fully pay off. In today's game, dominance comes at a cost. And eventually, the body collects.