Pitching prospects non-rostered

First I read where the following pitchers did not appear on the preliminary rosters for the Indians' minor league teams:

RHP Adam Plutko
RHP Nick Sandlin
RHP Aaron Civale
LHP Francisco Perez
RHP Gregori Vasquez

Then we find out that Plutko isn't on Columbus' roster because he has what could be a serious (read: TJ surgery) arm injury.   Certainly, minimally, it will put him on the shelf for awhile.

If the other 4 pitchers have significant injuries of their own this really hurts us, both from a ML depth standpoint AND from a prospect development standpoint.

Plutko is our 6th starter and one with significant major league experience.   Not having him available, with our lineup, really means that if we have to dip into the minors and don't go with an 'opener'....Well, with our lineup we are almost guaranteed to lose once every 5 games.    Not that Plutko was a worldbeater but at least he was experienced and solid.  Tito knew how to use him and the team was comfortable with what the signs were that he was about to implode.   And what people forget is that we could probably have signed a veteran as the 6th starter/minor league depth who was the first guy up if we had an injury, but I don't think we could have gotten anyone good to sign on as a 7th starting pitcher.  So Plutko taking that 6th starter spot and then getting hurt really, really hurts us if we need to bring a starter up from the minors.

If that isn't enough, it appears Civale must be hurt, too.    This is very concerning to me as he was one of the Indians' prospects who I said NEEDS to break out this year to provide rotation depth.   In my mind, he starts the season well and he passes Plutko on the depth chart.   If he misses significant time he won't be able to be a factor this year, unless it is out of the bullpen late in the year.

Plus, although we don't really need him at this point, if Sandlin is hurt it is a blow to our bullpen.   Look, young guys coming up late in the year AND having an impact on the stretch run and playoffs is probably as much about the league not having a book on them as it is about their stuff.   Baseball is so analytics heavy that, in my opinion, new guys have with good stuff have MUCH more of an advantage than they used to have.   Teams depend on analytics and so their hitters come to depend on that information, as well.  If you take that analytic data away from them the advantage goes to the young pitcher...in my opinion.

Francisco Perez and Gregori Vasquez being injured IS significant.   These are two of the better pitching prospects we have and their loss for any significant time really does make our overall prospect depth significantly weaker for now and the next few years until/if these guys catch up.   You really can't have a breakout year if you spend a good deal of time at the beginning of the year on the IL.