Slings and arrows of pitching
Is throwing harder, spinning faster behind rash of injuries on the mound?
Pitching injuries have become a polarizing topic across Major League Baseball and everyone seems to have a theory about why so many guys are going under the knife.
The regular season isn’t two weeks old and already the number of battered elbows are starting to add up. The Guardians lost ace Shane Bieber for the season. The Braves might soon suffer through a similar fate with Spencer Strider.
Elsewhere, Astros No. 1 Framber Valdez was placed on the 15-day injured list after his last start against the Blue Jays. Tampa Bay’s Shane McClanahan, Miami’s Sandy Alcántara and Baltimore’s Félix Bautista have been out since last year. Two-way star Shohei Ohtani currently just hits.
According to USA Today, 38 pitchers have undergone major reconstructive elbow surgeries since the start of spring training last year. Justin Verlander referred to the rash of ailments as a pandemic, one that requires attention from all levels of the sport.
What’s the cause? Verlander was asked that too and his answer lasted more than four minutes. This isn’t an issue that can be summed up in a quick sound bite.
A lot of veterans point to changes that MLB allegedly made to the baseball in 2016. A previous investigation by the website The Ringer discovered that the balls being used were slightly smaller, with lower seams, than previous versions. A record for home runs was set that year at 5,610, a 35 per cent increase from two years earlier.
Pitchers were forced to change strategies. The old way centred around inducing weak contact. Pitch to the corners, throw it down and away. Yankees ace Gerrit Cole said Monday that once hitters near the bottom of lineups started hitting the ball out to the opposite field, pitchers had to start prioritizing swing-and-miss pitches.
Velocity and spin rate became the rage. Every team now has a “lab” where pitching mechanics can be meticulously evaluated. Changes are made to deliveries that maximize velocity and movement and new pitches are created.
Teams also began prioritizing pitchers who fit the mould even more than before. Jays starter Chris Bassitt recently told the story of two relievers on one of his former teams. One threw low 90s and had a three-point-something ERA. The other threw high 90s with an ERA close to five. The next spring, the latter had a secure spot while the other had a minor-league deal. Strikeouts pay.
Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci evaluated all starting pitchers from 2019-23 who averaged at least 96.5 m.p.h. on their four-seam fastball in seasons when they threw at least 600 of those pitches. Of the 21 high- velocity throwers who qualified, 18 had major injuries and accounted for at least 22 elbow procedures.
“I definitely think that we’re learning that there are some heightened risks there, with that level of force on the human body,” said Jays GM Ross Atkins, whose team has been spared from major elbow injuries over the last two years. “We’ve also learned ways to ensure we’re doing everything to be able to handle that risk.”
This trend has become embedded in the culture of amateur sports. Youth programs were developed with the sole purpose of getting kids to throw harder, and with more movement, to attract attention from scouts.
Renowned surgeon Dr. James Andrews told MLB.com that, by the time he retired earlier this year, he was being asked to perform more Tommy John surgeries on youth baseball players than those in MLB or college.
There are other potential culprits beyond velocity and movement. Dodgers right-hander Tyler Glasnow previously talked about how MLB’s ban of sticky tack forced him to grip the ball tighter and deeper. The day after his first start without the use of a foreign substance, he felt sore in places he didn’t know he had muscles. Soon after, he underwent Tommy John surgery.
Then there’s the clock. Pitchers are no longer free to walk around between pitches, buying their arms extra recovery time. Instead they have 15 seconds to throw when the bases are empty and 18 seconds with runners on. Short buildups to the 2020 and 2022 seasons thanks to COVID-19 and a lockout can’t be dismissed either.
“I hope the higher-ups are paying attention,” Jays starter Kevin Gausman said.
“There’s a reason behind (the injuries). What that is and who can pinpoint that exactly, I don’t know, but there’s obviously multiple things that have changed over the last two years.”
MLB announced earlier this year that it was conducting a study in response to the injuries, with about 100 interviews being done with a wide variety of subjects, including surgeons and former pitchers. The study was to be followed by the creation of a task force.
Identifying problems is the easy part, though. The challenge is how to solve them. For a sport that became obsessed with velocity and spin rate, the only thing we know for sure is that it’s not going to be a quick fix.