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Tharvot
Crusader for Truthiness
My friends and I have been discussing this for a while and this morning the radio show I listen to on morning drive also delved into it.
Here's the general issue: more and more pitchers are blowing out their arms and are needing TJ surgery. In fact, roughly 1/3 of MLB pitchers have or are scheduled to have the procedure. The year for the most surgeries was 2012 when 60 something pitchers went under the knife and we are on track to shatter that record this year. The question is why the recent rash of injuries considering the lengths to which pitchers are being looked after these days?
I have some experience in the sport and my very amateur opinion is that its a combination of things:
1. Pitchers have become very big. The average height for a MLB pitcher has got to be in the mid 6ft range. Pitchers have also gained weight in muscle as weight training has been really stressed in recent years. This added size and weight means added stress on the elbow ligaments.
2. Velocity is out of control. Pitchers are throwing much harder than they ever did. Seems just about every team has a guy that can break triple digits and its fairly routine to have a slew of guys throwing in the mid to upper 90s. I think the avg fastball was around 93 last year. If you have never seen it, check out a pitcher throwing in slow motion and the extreme torque and stress that the elbow goes under. Its the most violent motion in sports. The increased velocity means more stress on that ligament and more force placed on the elbow ligament.
3. Overwork. This starts at the youth level with year round baseball and continues through high school in most cases. The radio said an elite level pitcher (think first round prospect out of high school) is 5-6x more likely to have TJ by 23 than a normal pitcher. This seems counter to the idea of pitch counts that have been pretty strict recently. I think an unintended consequence of the pitch count is that a pitcher will give max effort knowing that he is limited in the number of pitches he can throw. With no pitch count, a pitcher is forced to hold something in reserve and pace himself more if he wants to throw the full game. Max effort combined with the over work that elite level pitchers go under in year-round tourney teams is a recipe for disaster.
Anyone have further thoughts on this? Any remedies?
Here's the general issue: more and more pitchers are blowing out their arms and are needing TJ surgery. In fact, roughly 1/3 of MLB pitchers have or are scheduled to have the procedure. The year for the most surgeries was 2012 when 60 something pitchers went under the knife and we are on track to shatter that record this year. The question is why the recent rash of injuries considering the lengths to which pitchers are being looked after these days?
I have some experience in the sport and my very amateur opinion is that its a combination of things:
1. Pitchers have become very big. The average height for a MLB pitcher has got to be in the mid 6ft range. Pitchers have also gained weight in muscle as weight training has been really stressed in recent years. This added size and weight means added stress on the elbow ligaments.
2. Velocity is out of control. Pitchers are throwing much harder than they ever did. Seems just about every team has a guy that can break triple digits and its fairly routine to have a slew of guys throwing in the mid to upper 90s. I think the avg fastball was around 93 last year. If you have never seen it, check out a pitcher throwing in slow motion and the extreme torque and stress that the elbow goes under. Its the most violent motion in sports. The increased velocity means more stress on that ligament and more force placed on the elbow ligament.
3. Overwork. This starts at the youth level with year round baseball and continues through high school in most cases. The radio said an elite level pitcher (think first round prospect out of high school) is 5-6x more likely to have TJ by 23 than a normal pitcher. This seems counter to the idea of pitch counts that have been pretty strict recently. I think an unintended consequence of the pitch count is that a pitcher will give max effort knowing that he is limited in the number of pitches he can throw. With no pitch count, a pitcher is forced to hold something in reserve and pace himself more if he wants to throw the full game. Max effort combined with the over work that elite level pitchers go under in year-round tourney teams is a recipe for disaster.
Anyone have further thoughts on this? Any remedies?