As we all know, Tim Hudson was the Giants best starter for the first couple months of 2014. He was almost unbeatable, or at least the Giants were when he took the mound. Then, somewhere in June, he started to really fall apart. Almost none of his starts were going well, at all. He would maybe pitch a couple times through the lineup then he would start to get banged around. And lose. It got me wondering about his health and I came up with a theory at the end of the season as to why maybe that happened....
If you haven't seen his ankle injury from 2013, I highly suggest you go to youtube and type in "Tim Hudson ankle injury." It was a pretty severe injury. One that caused him to have to re-hab well into the offseason and definitely altered his spring training regimen. I read an article where he said it took him a lot longer to get into playing shape and to get up to speed once the season started because of his rehabbing the injury. Now of course he is pretty old too. But I think that maybe since he didn't get to have a normal spring training like he is used to, somewhere along the line maybe that altered his regular season performance. He was never quite the same in the second half or really the last 2/3 of the season, and every time he pitched I held my breath. And it seemed that they usually lost. Now he also had some hip issues during the season that caused him to miss a start. Maybe that affected him more than we all know. Maybe its just wishful thinking and maybe my theory is stupid, but I am hoping that since he will have a more normal offseason (although shortened) he will be able to come out next season and be more consistent all year and at least pitch like a decent #3 starter. Assuming he stays healthy, and my theory is even somewhat accurate, I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.