I first knew John Brenkus the same way a lot of people did — through a screen, through the phrase “Sports Science,” which at the time felt like something entirely new. It wasn’t just the idea that you could break down the mechanics of a fastball or the force of a hit with slow motion and graphics. It was the joy John brought to explaining it. The wonder in the numbers. It’s hard to explain to someone now just how groundbreaking it was. Everyone talks like that now. Everyone uses the language he created. We’re all just adding footnotes to what he started.
I got to meet him for real at ESPN. I was there to shoot the little fantasy football show and seeing him in the hallway, I went to introduce myself and instead, he recognized me. He greeted me like an old friend and we ended up in the cafeteria for lunch. I don’t know if that cafeteria’s still there, in the same way I don’t know if the ESPN we knew is still there either. I remember what he said to me. I was venting about the exhaustion of having to explain, over and over, what a sprain is, what a strain is, why this matters. I was getting a little too self-serious, a little worn out. John listened and said, “You don’t have to walk the whole path with them. You just have to point to the path and tell them where it goes.”
That stuck with me. Still does.When I think about the work I do, whether it’s talking to coaches or fans or front offices, I come back to that idea. You don’t need to force-feed people complexity. You just have to show them how to get there and trust that they’ll follow, or not. John was better at that than just about anyone I’ve known.
Later, I got to be on a panel with him at Sloan. Peter Keating moderated. Mark Verstegen was there too, from Exos (or I think it was still Athletes’ Performance then.) At the time, just being on that stage felt surreal. I’d just left Baseball Prospectus and was trying to figure out what came next. John had his own version of that story after leaving “Sports Science.” I wish I’d known him better in those moments. I wish I’d asked more.
We worked together again on a 2018 NFL draft segment. It was a QB breakdown for NFL Network — Josh Allen was in it and blew the roof of the metrics — and John brought that same wide-eyed excitement. It didn’t matter if we were talking force plates or elbow torque. John lit up when it clicked. When the numbers told a story. He made you want to listen and learn.
When I went on “Foul Territory” this week, I tried to do what he said. I pointed to the path. I did my best. When I signed off, I thought of John, of how many people will remember his work, his joy, and how many of us are walking paths he pointed toward.
Rest well, John.
On to the injuries:
CORBIN BURNES, SP ARZ (inflamed elbow)
Cameras seemed to catch Corbin Burnes saying his elbow “is done” as he spoke with the medical and coaching staff. The Diamondbacks have to hope that’s not the case, but they have a very good idea already. He’s been examined by their doctors and had imaging done, and he’ll head out to speak with at least one other surgeon for a second opinion.
I actually think that second opinion might be the most hopeful thing right now. If this was a very clear rupture, the surgery would be scheduled, perhaps even completed, but that’s not the case. So far, the Diamondbacks are calling this “elbow inflammation” which is demonstrably true, but is more symptom than diagnosis. While we know even small sprains are a real problem for pitchers, there are vastly more options now, from biologic injections to augmented surgeries. At worst, Burnes might miss less time than someone just five years ago, potentially much less.
At over 190 innings the last three seasons, all of them spent at teams with top notch medical staffs, Burnes has been one of few true workhorses with few minor issues and no major ones. He’s been a high spin rate guy and even with a slight decline in his strikeout rate and velocity last season, he’s still the ace-level guy the Diamondbacks haven’t had since … Zack Greinke? Dan Haren? Losing that is irreplaceable and losing it for most of 2026 as well would be even worse. We’ll know more by next UTK.
LUKE WEAVER, RP NYY (strained hamstring)
Luke Weaver strained his hamstring warming up on Sunday. It’s one of those calls back from the pen that they don’t like making, telling the pitching coach that the guy the manager wanted to get hot is now about to get very cold. It’s a very simple hamstring strain, the kind that just happens, but shouldn’t. There are a lot of injuries in sports that aren’t preventable, but soft tissue injuries like this are among the most researched and addressed issue in all of sports. Whole companies are built on testing and prevention of just this single injury type.
You may say the Yankees are not Paris Saint-Germain and that Luke Weaver is not Ousmane Dembele, but human anatomy is, to some level, identical. Dembele very nearly missed the crucial games against Arsenal, but they were able to get him back and raise the cup. PSG was cited in a recent study about hamstring management, and had an extremely low rate of soft tissue injuries despite a clogged schedule. The Yankees have put a lot of money and effort into physical performance and sports science, but not nearly as much as most elite soccer clubs do.
For Weaver, this Grade II strain is simple, but damaging. He’ll miss at least a month and could be more like three weeks, stressing the back end of the bullpen. Devin Williams slides back into the closer role and we’ll see if he responds better than his initial stint. It’s easy to say “Mariano Rivera is not walking through that door” but looking back at some of those great Yankees teams of the 200s, it’s surprising to see how deep the bullpens were. Maybe we’ll remember Fernando Cruz and Mark Leiter the way we do Tom Gordon and Al Leiter, or maybe not.
More below, including what a new Angels injury tells us about Mike Trout, how a young pitcher returning might be a positive signal for a team that really needs one, and why phrases like “jammed thumb” really tell us nothing. Only for subscribers, so become one!