MLB is struggling with a plethora of elbow injuries to many of their star pitchers. There's no doubt that injuries have increased and there are a lot of potential reasons:
1. The pitch clock reduces in game recovery (not really buying that one).
2. The tread towards maximum effort by starters (this is probably the main reason).
3. The call for more spin (not sure about that one).
4. Long term issues (kids throwing a lot of inning and a lot of crap before they're even 10 years old)
Back in the 1990s, I went to a coaching clinic with the former Braves pitching coach, Leo Mazzone, and he told us then that there's one good arm for every 10 available in the 60s and 70s and if not for the Latin players, MLB wouldn't be able to field 16 credible teams. This made sense then, but the injuries occurring now don't seem to be from long term issues, but from short term ballistic causes, mainly the "Maximum Effort" approach demanded today. So many players throwing so hard all of the sudden (last 10 years) has to do with training starters like closing pitchers, then expecting them to throw 90 pitches in one setting at that level. Not even moving from a 4 man rotation to a 5 man rotation can prevent what happens to an arm with maximum effort after 60 pitches. I watched Chris Sale pitch for the Braves yesterday, and I swear he was giving so much effort that I thought his arm would come off. Long gone are the days of Glavine and Maddux "pitching".
Problem is that there's really nothing that MLB can do about it. They can't "make" the players give less effort. They could put them on a pitch count, but that's only good for repetitive fatigue. Spencer Strider sprained his elbow ligament after less than 60 pitches Friday night. How do you make a pitcher not throw as hard?
1. The pitch clock reduces in game recovery (not really buying that one).
2. The tread towards maximum effort by starters (this is probably the main reason).
3. The call for more spin (not sure about that one).
4. Long term issues (kids throwing a lot of inning and a lot of crap before they're even 10 years old)
Back in the 1990s, I went to a coaching clinic with the former Braves pitching coach, Leo Mazzone, and he told us then that there's one good arm for every 10 available in the 60s and 70s and if not for the Latin players, MLB wouldn't be able to field 16 credible teams. This made sense then, but the injuries occurring now don't seem to be from long term issues, but from short term ballistic causes, mainly the "Maximum Effort" approach demanded today. So many players throwing so hard all of the sudden (last 10 years) has to do with training starters like closing pitchers, then expecting them to throw 90 pitches in one setting at that level. Not even moving from a 4 man rotation to a 5 man rotation can prevent what happens to an arm with maximum effort after 60 pitches. I watched Chris Sale pitch for the Braves yesterday, and I swear he was giving so much effort that I thought his arm would come off. Long gone are the days of Glavine and Maddux "pitching".
Problem is that there's really nothing that MLB can do about it. They can't "make" the players give less effort. They could put them on a pitch count, but that's only good for repetitive fatigue. Spencer Strider sprained his elbow ligament after less than 60 pitches Friday night. How do you make a pitcher not throw as hard?
