Arms in Danger, Finds MLB Report

Three main factors contributing to the rise in pitcher injuries are pitchers trying to throw with more velocity, pitchers chasing nastier stuff and the emphasis on max effort in training and in games, according to the MLB Report on Pitcher Injuries released Tuesday.

The league surveyed more than 200 experts for the report, which aims to find solutions to the root of the problem. Those surveyed included former MLB pitchers and current pitching coaches, orthopedic surgeons, sports medicine physicians, athletic trainers, biomechanists, club officials, front office executives, player agents, independent pitcher development coaches, and amateur baseball stakeholders.

“I think there are a lot of factors,” an orthopedic surgeon said in the report, per MLB.com. “There’s no question that if we take the simplest thing, which is fastball velocity, you can see how the average increase in fastball velocity has completely paralleled the increased incidence of injury. If you could take one factor, it’s that.”

Along with velocity, pitchers are after better spin and movement, “stuff,” as they say, especially with improved tracking technology available. According to the study, this could be putting more stress on arms. The experts also agreed that pitchers throwing as hard as they can on every pitch or their nastiest breaking ball is the likeliest cause of the jump in arm injuries.

Pitch tracking was introduced in 2008, and the study showed the average velocity of four pitches has steadily risen in the 16-year period since: four-seam fastballs are up to 94.2 mph from 91.3 in 2008. In the same time span, sliders went from 82.8 mph to 84.6, curves from 75.7 mph to 79.5 and change-ups from 81.7 mph to 85.5.

When a pitcher throws harder, it adds to the stress and torque of his elbow. Jumps in velocity have coincided with hikes in Tommy John surgeries. The report stated that while injuries to stars like Jacob deGrom, Shohei Ohtani and Spencer Strider bring more attention to the problem, the issue has been getting bigger for 20 years.

A chart showed injured list placements rising from a little more than 200 in 2005 to just under 500 this year and the number of days on the IL jumping from just over 10,000 to a little less than 30,000 in the same time frame.

Another key finding was that in recent seasons, more injuries have occurred in spring training, with some suggesting the problem could be pitchers’ offseason workouts.

“We go from (the) season-ending to offseason programs because we want to add velocity or a breaking ball,” a former MLB pitcher said in the study. “They don’t get any time off. They want to start spinning the ball and they’re never giving the arm a break.”

Added another ex-pitcher: “When is the time for pitch design and time to tinker? The offseason. They say that in golf, you practice on the range and play on the course. You can’t try new swings on the course. In the season, your slider is your slider unless the anatomy of that pitch really takes a dive. But during the offseason, if you’re not designing and refining, then guys are passing you by.”

The report also found that the problem is not limited to MLB. Youngsters in high school and college are being affected as well.

“Guys are seeing big leaguers throw hard in short bursts,” a college coach said. “The radar gun is in their face more than it has ever been. Kids today know the (velocity) and metrics of every pitch. The last thing that goes on someone’s recruitment profile is ERA. It’s all velocity, spin rate, vertical break.”

The report recommended general solutions, including looking for rule changes to improve pitcher health and curtail short-duration, max-effort pitching. An example given was a rule that would encourage starters to go longer in games.

It also recommended further study into offseason pitching programs, pitchers’ non-game training activities, biomechanics, pitching styles, measuring pitcher fatigue, trends in foreign leagues such as the KBO and NPB and looking at the rate of injuries in amateur baseball in the U.S. vs. other countries.

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