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Once again there appears to be a lot of players hurt and injured this spring training. I just don’t understand that. Why, after nearly five months off, do players come to spring training either already injured or suffer injuries during spring training?
I now see where Gerritt Cole might need Tommy John surgery. Matt Strahm, Michael Grove, Reds young guy Cam Collier, Francisco Alvarez, Giancarlo Stanton, etc, etc, etc. The list just goes on and on.
I simply don’t understand it.
r/Esteemed Rat
I agree. Seems like they dont work out at all in the offseason. Though with cole, i think he was having issues at end of season but i could be wrong
Seems like they dont work out at all in the offseason.
It is not this and likely a major part is that players now don’t take any time off to rest and recover. Players are hitting in the cage/throwing and working out much harder and throughout the whole off-season now than they used to. To make it worse, many of these guys have also been playing baseball or training non-stop since little league as travel ball and showcases occur quite often. The same thing has happened in basketball as well as intense competition from such a young is the norm and basketball has also seen a dramatic uptick in injuries.
Well perfect timing. Ron Darling on the Mets broadcast was just talking about this. When he played, he would take most of the off-season really off and wouldn’t throw a baseball until January and even then it was just throwing on flat ground. He wouldnt touch the mound until February. Lifting wasn’t something players did until starting in the 90s.
He was stating players today are putting so much effort in during the off-season and come into camp in such great shape. Discussion about how those players are chasing stuff by being so in shape at the detriment of innings thrown during the season.
I dont think working out too much has anything to do with it. Now lifting weights could be a different thing. That is mostly a more recent thing. But i dont think you can really stretch too much or even run too much unless you are going past normal boundaries. But people forget they had lots of injuries back in the day too.
Are we talking about players as a whole or pitchers?
I mean if lifting is your routine during the season it’s likely one in the offseason brah.
“MLB published a 62-page report in December based on its yearlong study of pitching injuries — not only in the majors but down to the collegiate and youth levels as well — that investigated that increase and identified contributing factors, from increased velocity to more offseason training to pitchers chasing better ‘stuff.'”
We examined how much starting pitching injuries are really hurting baseball — and what it means for 2025.https://t.co/fM97LwgeEe
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) March 12, 2025
As for pitchers, Larry Dierker told our local SABR group some 15-20 years ago that the primary culprit increasing injuries is “the gun”. He said pitchers are expected to keep “that gun” at a certain level on every pitch, and are not given leeway to let up a little on some hitters. The pressure to do that stresses the arm and shoulder leading to injuries.
As for players in general, part of it might be perception. More teams than 30-40 years ago, and teams use a lot more players than back in the day. Same with life in general – more people on the planet and thus there is more of everything.
Great post, Bikemike. I was thinking along the same line. It
s all about dominating. Forget talent and finesse. The organizations are allowing it and they’re paying the price for it (in dollars).I disagree. While velocity is still important, it is an entry point, not the be-all, end-all. Pitching today is infinitely more complex than that one measure of the fastball.
When pitchers throw pens today, they have tablets mounted on stands next to them that they reference, sometimes after every pitch. All the coaches have them and are watching them all the time, too. They are looking at measures like movement and spin rates.
To get a quick feeling for what I am talking about, I suggest you head over to Baseball Savant (part of MLB) and look at the various pitcher stats. Velo is hard to find. If you are like me, you will be surprised as to how much you don’t know.
Here are Savant’s pitching categories.
Bat Tracking
Batted Ball Profile
Exit Velocity & Barrels
Expected Statistics
Home Runs
Percentile Rankings
Pitch Arsenal Stats
Pitch Tempo
Rolling Windows
Run Value
Year to Year Changes
Active Spin
Arm Angle
Pitch Arsenals
Pitch Movement
Running Game
Spin DirectionOn their homepage, click on “Leaderboards” then the “Pitching” column, then the measure to see each of the above.
“MLB published a 62-page report in December based on its yearlong study of pitching injuries — not only in the majors but down to the collegiate and youth levels as well — that investigated that increase and identified contributing factors, from increased velocity to more offseason training to pitchers chasing better ‘stuff.’”
Thanks for sharing this again. I recall seeing this in the offseason and some of my statements were based off this, but I forgot where I had originally heard that data.
Another perspective on pitching injuries, and again from our local SABR group. In January we had a video meeting with Denny McLain. McLain was great – very articulate and still engaging and entertaining. He had some great stories and insight.
He used a rather big leg kick and really put his lower body into pitching. He said that today guys do not use their legs as much in pitching, it is mostly upper body. He feels that is part of the issue with increased injuries, in that guys tend to be all arm and upper body using just a pivot in the rubber and relying on their arms for power.
Now McLain did break down and his career was not all that long. He said starting in 1966 he had shoulder problems, and would get cortisone shots to get through his starts. By 1970 his shoulder was shot and he needed rotator cuff surgery, but he did not do it and retired soon after that.
Anyway, FWIW that was a thought McLain shared.
This writer seems to think MLB is trying to divert attention away from the pitch clock being a source of pitching injuries. I’m not buying that.
Worthy: That report on pitching injuries only made me more suspicious of MLB's motives https://t.co/bEc1q9St6P
— St. Louis Post-Dispatch (@stltoday) March 13, 2025
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