Classic conundrum: What do these pitchers have in common?

I'm going to back into the lead on this one. See if you can figure out what these nine major-league pitchers have in common. In alphabetical order:

• Jose Arredondo, Angels: He looked like a closer in waiting in 2008, but the Angels are still waiting. He was sent to Triple-A this week.
• Armando Gallaraga, Tigers: After winning 13 games as a rookie, he's 3-7 with a 5.62 ERA and hasn't won since April 26.
• Jeremy Guthrie, Orioles: He's struggling with a 5-7 record and a 5.09 ERA, his worst in three seasons with Baltimore.
• Matt Lindstrom, Marlins: The hard-throwing closer has a 6.52 ERA and a bad elbow. He went on the disabled list this week.
• Damaso Marte, Yankees: He was ineffective in seven games, and has been on the DL since early May with shoulder tendinitis.
• Daisuke Matsuzaka, Red Sox: He was pulled from the Boston rotation after a miserable first eight starts (1-5, 8.23 ERA) and is now on the disabled list indefinitely with a shoulder issue.
• J.J. Putz, Mets: The expensive setup reliever underwent athroscopic surgery on his elbow and is likely out until August.
• Scot Shields, Angels: Solid setup guy wasn't solid (6.62 ERA), and now is out for the year after knee surgery.
• Joakim Soria, Royals: The "Mexicutioner" has a solid 1.72 ERA and eight saves, but missed most of May with a sore shoulder.

Got the answer? And it's not just poor production and/or injuries.

They all were on World Baseball Classic rosters.

Coincidence? Maybe and maybe not. While they pitched a varying amount of innings in the three-week tournament (Matsuzaka threw 14 2/3 innings; Lindstrom threw two), they all had to ramp up their training early to get ready for the March tournament. Did that have an adverse effect? The players (or at least folks in the front offices of the affected teams) might say yes. This also happened in 2006, by the way.

You might ask if that's a representative level of pitchers. By my count, about 50 big-league pitchers threw in the Classic. So 9 out of 50, close to 20 percent, have either seen a severe drop-off in production or have gotten hurt.

Yes, pitchers today are treated with kid gloves in many instances. You never would have heard about Bob Feller having a pitch count when he was young, and he was still pitching in Cooperstown last week at age 90. But taking these guys out of their routine seems to have adverse effects. And you can bet that this will be monitored and remembered again in 2013, when the WBC is scheduled to return.