Matt Blake texted a conciliatory message to Cleveland Guardians pitcher Shane Bieber over the weekend. As a member of Cleveland's player development system in the 2010s, Blake helped Bieber progress from college to unanimous American League Cy Young Award winner in 2020. For a while, Beaver represented the modern model in the production of major league players. The league ace is a player who has added strength to his frame, velocity to his fastball, and spin to his offspeed pitches as he has risen through the ranks.
But by the time Blake sent his message, Bieber had become part of a growing and more troubling class of talented young pitchers who will spend this season as spectators. Two days after the Miami Marlins announced that 20-year-old phenom Yuri Perez would undergo Tommy John surgery, the Guardians revealed that 28-year-old Bieber will also need the same procedure. Recent tests on 25-year-old Atlanta Braves starter Spencer Strider revealed a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow, potentially requiring a second Tommy John surgery. did. In New York, where Mr. Blake is now the Yankees' pitching coach, the team lost ace Gerrit Cole to elbow inflammation through June and also lost one of its top relievers, Jonathan Loaisiga, to year-end elbow surgery.
“As a pitching coach, I'm pretty concerned because I'm trying to get through nine innings worth of pitching every night for 162 games,” Blake said.
Pitching is always dangerous for practitioners. There is reason to believe that maintaining their health is becoming increasingly difficult. The opening game of the 2024 season demonstrated the inherent vulnerability of the position.Recent stories – Artist: The Ringer Citing a study by former MLB trainer Stan Conte, it tallied 263 UCL surgeries in 2023, a steady increase from 111 surgeries performed in 2011. Of the 166 players who began the season on injured reserve, As reported by the New York Post, 132 were pitchers. If this trend continues, 2024 will once again be the year when arm injuries occur frequently, creating a cause for alarm in the gaming world.
The issue sparked a clash between Major League Baseball and the MLBPA on Saturday, as the two sides discussed in press releases the impact of a pitch clock that will be introduced in 2023 and shortened in 2024. MLBPA Secretary Tony Clark explained that the league is adamant about the cuts. He called a timeout before the 2024 season against the players' wishes, citing an “unprecedented threat to our game.” MLB countered by citing an unpublished analysis from Johns Hopkins University that found no link between the introduction of the clock and the spike in injuries.
But the clock was just one area of concern among players, coaches and managers. The Athletic this weekend. These conversations tapestry further reasons for the injury problem, including the industry's constant optimization efforts, encouraging players to pursue maximum speed and spin, and using training methods that encourage full-throttle training year-round. It was expressed as For some, the explanation is complex and difficult to understand. Untangling it may take years of study and reassessment.
“The most important thing is to protect their arms,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “And obviously we haven't succeeded in doing that.”
This season started with some of the most notable pitchers in baseball. Los Angeles Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw underwent shoulder surgery last October. Texas Rangers pitcher Max Scherzer is recovering from hip surgery, and teammate Jacob deGrom is rehabbing from his second Tommy John surgery. Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander experienced shoulder pain during spring training. All of these pitchers are over the age of 35, at an age when their bodies can no longer handle the grueling schedule of the major leagues.
The more pressing concern for MLB is that its arsenal will collapse shortly after its rise to fame. Miami Marlins starting pitcher Sandy Alcantara, the unanimous winner of the 2022 National League Cy Young Award, underwent reconstructive elbow surgery last season. So did Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Shane McClanahan, who started playing in the All-Star Game a little more than a year ago. Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Brandon Woodruff will miss the rest of the season due to shoulder surgery. So is Kansas City Royals pitcher Kyle Wright, who won 21 games in Atlanta in 2022.
“Our sport deserves the best pitchers on the mound,” Detroit Tigers manager AJ Hinch said. “As always, the first thing you look at every day is the starting pitching matchup. You want the big boys there. You want elite players, and more and more players are getting injured.”
To look into the issue, MLB commissioned a study last October that included conversations with 100 people around the game, including medical personnel. Once the study is complete, the league will form a task force to make recommendations to clubs on how to keep pitchers healthy.
The sport has been grappling with this issue since its inception. In another era, it was thought that pitchers would get injured from overuse. The team changed the way it uses pitchers in hopes of preserving them. Gone are the days when a tired starting pitcher would be pushed to the brink with 125 pitches or more, trying to end the seventh or eighth inning. The new archetype requires pitchers to explode from the get-go, rather than slack off in their attacks. Try your best for as long as you can, that's the new mantra. A large amount of data about the shape and movement of pitches has given teams detailed ways to make their pitchers better. But the data didn't provide answers about how to keep them healthier.
“What I've heard over the years as a manager is that there's less demand on starting pitchers because they're not keeping them in games as long and they're not throwing 100 pitches,” Hinch said. Ta. “Yet we ask them to maximize their speed, maximize their shape, maximize everything and train virtually all year round.”
Hinch cited 27-year-old Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal, who underwent Tommy John surgery in college and flexor tendon surgery in 2022. Skubal trained this winter so much that when he arrived at spring training, he reached 99 mph in his first session. Live batting practice. “Go up to Tariq Skubal and say, 'Hey, pull yourself together and throw 92 mph,' and see what happens,” Hinch said. “No, because we ask our players to compete at the highest level.”
Some retired players put their pitching at risk in their quest for increased velocity and spin. Dan Haren is a 13-year veteran who currently works as a pitching strategist for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Posted in X His Instagram feed featured footage of “athletes crow-hopping heavy balls into the wall with all their might, with their teammates cheering them on.” Roberts added: “In my opinion, the body is designed to collapse under a certain amount of force and velocity.”
Some, like Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell, suggest that pitchers will always try to throw harder. “I don't think the pursuit of speed will ever end,” Counsell said. “I don't think we should demonize the pursuit of speed because it makes pitchers better.”
However, the industry has supported this trend by reducing starting pitchers' playing time and encouraging pitchers to maximize their abilities. Pitchers not only throw fastballs with maximum force, they also throw off-speed pitches with maximum force in hopes of creating a unique movement and dislodging the bat. “The types of deliveries that create outliers are probably more stressful in some ways,” Blake said. “I think maximizing force to create shape probably doesn't help. I think there's some physical cost when you're chasing 20-inch breaks or 20-inch rides or high-speed velo.”
Despite protests from MLB officials, players will continue to complain about the clock. This innovation cut his average game time by 24 minutes last season. The 2023 timer gave pitchers 15 seconds with no bases and 20 seconds if there was a runner. MLB's 11-member competition committee voted to shorten the 20-second clock by two seconds in 2024, despite opposition from players.
Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Anderson suggested that the clock can put more stress on pitchers' arms than their legs. But he doubted there were any studies showing a correlation between shorter pitch intervals and increased injuries. The act of pitching was already unhealthy enough. “My guess is that Rob Manfred knows that's very difficult to prove,” Anderson said.
The union considers the clock a bogeyman. The comptroller's office treats their complaints as straw men. For coaches like Blake, who have to navigate a season amidst injuries, the clock is only part of the problem, along with the dangerous pursuit of speed and spin.
“I don’t think any of them are.” largely It’s a responsibility,” Blake said. “But it's hard to get a cocktail that mixes all of these things together.”
athletic Fabian Ardaya, Sam Blum, Patrick Mooney and Cody Stavenhagen contributed reporting.
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(Strider top photo: Justin K. Aller / Getty Images)