MLB Pitching Injuries Have No Easy Solution Nor A Single Reason They Keep Happening | Bill Graff
Injuries to MLB pitchers seem to be happening at an epidemic pace. Everyone seems to believe they can point to one reason why this is the case. That is comical.
To start, injuries are affecting a lot of high-profile pitchers. But it is not affecting more pitchers than it has in recent years.
Tommy John surgeries have been around since, well, Tommy John. 2023, the first year with the pitch clock, ranked tied for 4th most since Y2K.
Elbow Injuries Are Affecting Big Names in MLB
I know it feels like there are a lot more in 2024 that are going full Tommy John or seem on the brink. Spencer Strider had surgery Friday and is done for the year. Names like Gerrit Cole, Shane Bieber, Framber Valdez, Eury Perez, Jonathan Losiaga and Nick Pivetta all are going under the knife or missing time already this year. And last year, we had Shohei Ohtani, Jacob DeGrom, Shane McLanahan, and Sandy Alcántara among others all go down. 2021 Cy Young winner Robbie Ray had Tommy John a year later. He still has not returned.
Yes, it's a HUGE problem. That is why everyone is weighing in with their opinions on why. The player's union this week blamed the pitch clock. MLB quickly dismissed that. Even some players cast doubt about that assertion. Justin Verlander spoke thoughtfully on the issue.
I loved that he said, "The game has changed a lot. … Everything has a little bit of influence." It's not just one thing. Pedro Martinez also weighed in, amplifying Justin's thoughts on what young pitchers are doing and being coached to do.
I did a podcast last year with Curt Schilling, and he was adamant about how important it was for young pitchers not to rush their development. Renowned orthopedic surgeon James Andrews retired last year and said this to MLB.com, "These kids are throwing 90 mph their junior year of high school. The ligament itself can’t withstand that kind of force. We’ve learned in our research lab that baseball is a developmental sport. The Tommy John ligament matures at about age 26. In high school, the red line where the forces go beyond the tensile properties of the ligament is about 80 mph."
The pressures within youth baseball continues to grow. Parents seemingly put the dream of their sons pitching in the Bigs or the idea of a baseball scholarship ahead of common sense. Too many coaches push kids to throw harder at too young an age.
OutKick's Mike Gunzleman did a full breakdown on the issues facing young pitchers.
READ: WHY ARE PITCHERS GETTING HURT MORE?
Pitchers Agree The Game Has Changed
Justin Verlander mentioned it in his comments. The game has changed, which has changed the demands on pitchers. Fastball velocity and spin rate are now king in the pitching game. Every pitch is now being thrown in a high impact situation.
Gerrit Cole won the AL Cy Young in 2023. He has yet to throw an inning this season because of discomfort in his elbow. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
Gerritt Cole told Pete Caldera of the Bergen Record the following after he got injured during this year's pre-season: "The standard of performance is higher, the league is demanding you throw your best pitch every single time because the hitters are better, the strike zone is smaller, the balls are different, the bats are different. … I think it’s just irresponsible for either side to say anyone of those things definitely has no impact on pitchers’ elbows," Cole said. "That’s not helpful."
Cole then added even more to the cocktail of trouble for pitchers, "But as we’ve evolved over the last 10 years, you’ve had two shortened ramp-ups (in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID) and we’ve added a pitch clock."
The Pitch Clock Argument
The pitch clock has been blamed by some for pitchers' arm issues. MLBPA and the MLB sparred about that this week.
MLB pitchers say you can add the pitch clock to an already long list. Spencer Strider, who is sidelined with elbow discomfort, said this to USA Today Sports, "If anything, the league is making rule changes despite an injury epidemic that could very well be encouraging injuries, such as the pitch clock, limiting the number of pitchers on the roster, how many pitching changes you can make, how many mound visits you can have – all those things are making pitching harder and potentially, I think, making health more difficult to manage."
Fact is, a pitch clock increases the pace at which a pitcher works. You increase the pace, the exertion rate rises. So yes, the pitch clock is a factor in this, but it is NOT the main or only factor. It's a new factor that exacerbated the problem.
Velocity and Spin Rate
The pitch clock, the age when pitchers start throwing too hard and too often, both contribute to the spate of injuries. But a big part of the problem is the increased emphasis on velocity and spin rate.
It is not a secret that the advent of analytics has steered all pitchers to throw harder to get more strikeouts. 4-seam fastballs speeds have exploded. The number of 95+ MPH pitches are up 12% points in 8 years. In 2015, 95+ MPH were being thrown 26% of the time and in 2023 they were being thrown 38% of the time.
The spin rate on sliders and sweepers has also increased at a ridiculous pace.
Basically, pitchers are torquing their arms in ways never seen before. They are developing skills to throw harder every year. How many preseason updates from spring training claimed this pitcher has gained 2-3 MPH on his fastball in the off-season?
The Reality of Increased Injury Rates in Pitchers
The reality of the situation is that all of this contributes to the increased amount of injuries we are seeing to pitchers' elbows and shoulders. Mechanics play a part as well, because pitching coaches will do anything to have a pitcher throw harder and get more K's.
If you want to build a series of events that leads to arm issues, it looks something like this:
A kid throws hard at age 10 and is identified as a next level player. He gets involved in travel ball by 11 years of age and does that through high school. He plays and practices 365 days a year. By 16, he is throwing 90+MPH. He gets recruited heavily as he plays travel ball, high school ball, and goes to training camps in the summer to develop his skills.
He then either gets drafted or goes to college to develop more. Still throwing 365 days a year, and develops a curve and a slider, maybe even a sweeper. Maybe there is a bump in the road along the way and he gets his first Tommy John surgery. Dr. Andrews said there was a 10-fold increase in Tommy John surgeries to kids 15-19 since 2000. The American Journal of Sports reports that nearly 60% of all Tommy John surgeries are performed on kids 15-19.
Back to our wonder kid. He gets to the minors, then is introduced to analytics that tell him to throw harder and with more spin. And then, he has to do it faster because there is a pitch clock. Add in the hitters in the game are better than they have ever been and every pitch that is a mistake cloud leave the yard.
I ask you, how soon until this kid, or any kid has another arm issue.
It is not one thing, it is everything. It starts young, and it continues as they all chase the dream. And it will always be the dream.
The Solution
There is not one solution, but everything should be under consideration. More studies should be done, not just the one that MLB said Johns Hopkins did. Radar guns should be outlawed for kids under 16, but that won't happen. The MLB may institute some new rules and that has to happen. Purists may hate it, but we watch games to watch the stars. We need to find a way to protect them from themselves. And probably even before they become stars.