For years, Pitchers have been a vital part to the build of a roster. Whether they are a starter or a bullpen arm. Over the past couple of seasons, however, we have seen more pitching injuries than ever before. When taking a look at the research, data and cause of the injuries, there is no real path moving forward.
In the past year and a half, we have seen 52+ pitchers get injured. That’s an extremely insane amount when you compare it to the average of 25.4 over the last 10 years. There are two reasons that you credit to this problem. Velocity and the Pitch Clock.
Throwing hard has become more popular over the last several years. Many studies have shown that there is a direct correlation between the increase in velocity and the number of pitching injuries. One of those studies found that velocity is the most predictive factor for injuries that need surgery. They have become throwers, who continue to shove the ball as hard as they can. The average fastball velocity has increased to over 94.2 MPH. The bad news is that the average is getting closer to the max velocity.
Another possible cause for the increase in injuries is the pitch clock. The MLB has made rule changes to feature a quicker pace of play. Currently, giving pitchers have 15 seconds between batters and 18 seconds with runners on base. When asking an athlete to do the same amount of work in less time, you’re increasing fatigue. Fatigue can lead to injuries.
Could the injuries be because of breaking balls?
Velocity causes the biggest stress on the elbow, but the answer is yes… some of these injuries could be caused by breaking balls. Especially when pitchers are throwing breaking balls faster now. It’s a known fact that breaking balls provide more stress at any given MPH, so when pitchers are throwing a curveball or slider at 85 mph, it’s going to cause stress on the elbow. Pitchers threw 44,000 more breaking balls at that speed than they did in 2008.
No matter how you want to look at the pitching injuries. All of the causes lead back to velocity.
How can the MLB solve this problem?
I’m not sure that we really have an answer for that yet. Limiting the number of active pitchers in a game wouldn’t really do anything except put more innings on pitchers. You can’t call every pitch over 94 MPH a ball. The Players Union certainly would not get behind a limit on roster space for pitchers. I asked some of the writers here at Fantom Sports what they think could be done, here’s what they said.
Max Crider: One of the only ones that we can solve this problem is if we somehow genetically engineer pitchers to have unbreakable elbows, shoulders and arms. Not sure how we could do that but that’s the only possible option I can think of.
Tyler Bednar: Less focus on spin rate/velocity, more focus on location. Incentivize pitching more innings, which means players/teams will have to be more cautious with how they throw. Additionally, it’s an issue with how players are trained when they’re younger, too.
Justin Fields: The pitch clock needs to go. It doesn’t allow pitchers to work at their own pace that works for their play style. It’s also hard not to injure yourself when you throw so hard. So momentum and pace of play is playing a huge role.
As you can see, there are many thoughts on what needs to be done. However, they all revert back to two things: velocity and pitch clock. The MLB needs to find a solution for the pitching injuries before it’s too late.
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