Baseball Has A Pitching Problem

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I feel a big part is this new age of biomechanics where people try to mold their mechanics to what’s “ideal” for velocity and it’s not natural to them. Some people are just not born to be able to throw that hard for a long period of time

12:05 He gives 5 examples of veteran pitchers "dominating lineups" and ALL FIVE are injured now.

As a 19 year old, Ive seen kids in middle school throwing a full bag of pitches and topping out at 70-80 mph, that’s not good for their health as they are still growing

what's harming pro pitchers is playing baseball year round as youths

As much as I loved Tim Linecum being undersized flame thrower watching Maddux baffle batters was poetry in motion.

I pitched since I was 11. At 14-15 I was throwing around 75. I moved, and joined a rec league because tryouts were already finished. Because of my velo I was pitching most games and despite the pitch cap, throwing at my max velo every game screwed me up so badly. Rotator cuff issues, shoulder blade issues, forearm issues, and eventually weakness, numbness, tremoring, pins and needles in my finger tips. I was told after seeing a sports doc that I had a hole through the middle of my UCL (Tommy john). Take care of yourselves out there guys, don't throw junk while you're still growing, and don't overtrain and over practice. Just because you're told you can pitch 4 innings doesn't mean you always should. Health before wealth, I don't wish my arm issues on anyone.

The 3 True Outcomes: watching 2 guys play catch, another guy stand between them waving a stick, and 7 other guys standing around scratching their butts

The stat-based approach has also changed hitting itself. Stats have decided home runs are of ultimate value. Guys used to have all kinds of variation to their swing but now it seems like most guys have essentially the same swing: load up and try to sock a dinger every time. We used to call this the "hero cut" when I was a kid. Pitching is part of the big rise in K rates but so is this approach. Nobody wants to be Tony Gwynn or Wade Boggs these days.

I have been watching baseball since the 1950s. Yeah, I'm old. Baseball did the right thing, putting a clock in the game. It offsets players stepping out of the batter's box after every pitch to adjust their batting gloves, which we not worn "back in the day". If baseball wanted to make the game truly exciting, they would move the mound back 10 feet and move the fences back 50 feet. The game would be so full of action that they would have to make it an every-other-day sport due to player fatigue. Actually, baseball expert George Will has said that the mound should be moved back, I don't think he was talking about 10 feet, but move it back a couple of feet anyway.

I miss the days when pitchers faced hitters a third time around. Nothing is cooler than a CG

Watched a game with a pitcher that threw a 90+mph change-up! How is that a change-up?!

It's still early April and already two top tier pitchers have injured their elbow ligaments, Bieber and Strider. And Cole also had a scare. TJ surgery is becoming a plague among pitchers.

200 years from now: "Are 175 mph fast balls too fast for the average hitter? We are seeing record high strike outs"

I can't be the only one who noticed the name on one of the referenced articles. Gabe laques 😂

Batters are also swinging for the fences more and more. Launch angle has mattered more than connecting and getting a base hit.

This videos needs to have AT LEAST 100k MORE views then it has now

This may be counterintuitive, but what's needed is a heavier workload on starting pitchers. The mentality now is throw as hard as you can for as long as you can, then let the next guy come in and do the same thing. If you're expecting the starter to go at least seven innings, and, yes, even complete a few games, this forces the starter to pace himself, to find a comfortable working speed, getting outs with location and movement, then reach back for that little extra when needed. 120 pitches at 80% effort is going to do less arm damage than 70-80 pitches at 100%. The counterargument I hear all the time is "But the hitters now are too good, everybody in the lineup can hit a home run, you need to go all out with every batter." First of all, we need to get rid of the DH, the opposing pitcher's at bat provides a much-needed break. Second, a slower pitch is harder to take deep than a faster one, the batter needs to generate more bat speed instead of letting the pitcher do all the work. This means that a pitcher who can change velocity can make a batter who is only interested in home runs look awfully foolish. I would propose requiring a pitcher to remain in the game (barring injury) for at least six innings while the possibility of a quality start still exists. I would also change the three batter minimum to requiring the reliever to remain in the game until either the end of the inning or until a run scores, this could be one batter, or it could be four of five. Seems more natural than an artificial arbitrary number. To me fewer pitchers equals better pacing, which leads to fewer injuries, and also leads to more exciting (i.e. less TTO) baseball.

Jimmy Piersall has a short, empassioned interview on youtube about what he thought was wrong with baseball (back in 1989). He claimed in the video that weight programs were causing the increase in injuries, and I think he was on to something. Sure, there are outliers like Nolan Ryan, who was a big weightlifter; but on the whole, I'm not sure these guys are getting the recovery they need, are not strengthening their ligaments/tendons, and are pushing themselves too hard. Its all a complicated issue, and I suspect diet may play a part in some players' downfall as well.

Unfortunately, the damage starts at a young age these days. Travel ball has gotten younger and more out of control. Parents living vicariously through their children pushing for them to be the absolute best 10 year old pitcher in their league for a relatively meaningless season in a declining game. I'm a nurse practitioner who has worked in orthopedics for the majority of my career now. I started in hand surgery, which is a misnomer because I really specialized in everything from the shoulder down. The reality is no kid should throw competitively year round. Pitchers should have at least 3 months of rest. If the kid plays catcher, then he really shouldn't be pitching and vice versa. Kid's should also continue to play more than one sport to develop other muscular groups, coordination and overall athleticism. We are also seeing an epidemic of ACL/Knee injuries in girls sports, particularly soccer and basketball because of a lack of development other actives use to provide to single sport kids. Girls sports really got the club game going and made single sport focus the fad that it's become. We are seeing this in almost every sport now, from the youth ranks through the pros. So many pro athletes can't stay healthy to save their lives. Look at what's happened to the running back position in professional football. They train year round. Our bodies were never designed to be that big, that fast and trained that relentlessly year round...then take the beating of an NFL season. Over training is a serious problem. I see athletic trainers doing this with their athletes constantly. If you want to build speed, you don't have the kids sprint at 100% any more than 2-3 days per week max. You should have them alternating speeds when they are training and progress through various intervals. Long story short, it's time to let kids be kids again. Encourage multiple sport participation and try to keep things fun. You don't have to throw hard to be a great pitcher. Teach them control, a good change up and to work the corners. Breaking pitches are unnecessary in the youth ranks. Stop letting uneducated coaches teach kids bad habits. I appreciate parents willing to volunteer their time but they should understand their limitations and not introduce techniques, habits or concepts they don't fully understand the consequences of (the curveball for example).