MLB’s pitching injury epidemic appears to have reached its tipping point in the first full week of the new season.
Miami Marlins young star Eury Perez is about to undergo Tommy John surgery. Shane Bieberwho pitched like the Cy Young version of himself. Spencer Strider could join them after an MRI revealed he suffered damage to the lumbar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow.
All of these injuries that occurred during the first week of the season follow Gerrit ColeTommy John’s Spring Training Scare, Shane McClanahan, Sandy Alcantara And Jacob de Grom having undergone surgery in the past year, and Shohei Ohtani needing a second ACL repair that will keep him off the mound until 2025.
To me, the reason we’re seeing an increase in pitchers needing elbow surgery is obvious. And no, it’s not the pitch clock or the lack of sticky substances, which I’m sick of hearing about.
For many pitchers, especially younger ones, every time they step on the mound, they’re throwing the ball at a crazy velocity and hitting triple digits on the radar. And when they’re not throwing powerful fastballs, they’re throwing curveballs or sliders and other off-speed pitches with as much spin as possible.
It wasn’t always this way. John Smoltz recounted “Flippin’ Bats”, Last year, the way pitchers throw the ball has changed dramatically in just the last decade; they weren’t always looking to hit 100 mph consistently. My brother, Justin Verlanderhad a 102 mph fastball in his back pocket when he came into the major leagues. But he didn’t try to hit that mark with every pitch. He stayed at 92, 93 mph and increased the velocity later in games.
These pitchers come into the era of Driveline Baseball, a data-driven development program, and decide they want to throw as fast as possible all the time. I’m not trying to bash Driveline here, but these high school pitchers think they won’t get a scholarship if they don’t throw 95, or they won’t get drafted if they don’t hit 90.
I know my brother agrees with me.
“I think the biggest thing is the pitching style has changed a lot,” he told reporters Monday. “Everybody’s throwing the ball as hard as they can and spinning the ball as hard as they can.
“It’s a double-edged sword. How can you tell someone not to do that when they can throw 100 mph? Something has to change.”
Spencer Strider’s UCL and the Pitching Injury Epidemic
We see that bear manifesting itself at every level of baseball now, with amateur pitchers feeling the pressure to rip it and spin it.
But the human arm can only handle so much, and it’s not designed to work that way. The root of the problem is so clear to me, and so frustrating because it takes a lot of upper arm out of it.
Baseball needs Strider. But since the day he was called up, he’s been trying to throw every pitch 100 mph. It doesn’t work that way.
So how do you solve this problem? Just point to the pitchers who have managed to do this without having to throw as hard as possible. Verlander is going to be inducted into the Hall of Fame and he is one of the best pitchers of all time. Watch his video of when he first came to the major leagues and learn how you can put down hitters at 92, 93 mph.
Strider is one of the best pitchers in the world. He doesn’t need to throw 100 mph to shut down hitters. Trust your technique! Throw 55 or 60 mph with your slider and your new curveball and it’ll work. If you’re in a tight spot late in the game, that’s when you can exploit your advanced technique because you know you have a 100 mph fastball. You don’t need it for every pitch.
As for what Strider’s injury means for the BravesI think it would be an overreaction to say they’re not going to win the NL East this season. The Braves are still the best team in the division and one of the best, if not the best, teams in baseball. This club is rich. I saw Strider win the NL Cy Young Award this year, so this is a blow, obviously. How many times have we heard, ‘ACL injury, we don’t know if it’s Tommy John, but there’s some damage to the ACL’? That’s not a good sign.
Strider will likely be out for a long time, one way or another. How long? Who knows, but I felt like the Braves had the best rotation in baseball heading into the season. Without their ace, they still have a very good rotation. Max Fried is capable of being an ace, and I loved the addition of Chris Sale. Atlanta will feel his absence the most in October. Baseball, meanwhile, will feel it every five days until he returns.
Ben Verlander is an MLB analyst for FOX Sports and the host of “Scary Bats” podcast. Born and raised in Richmond, Virginia, Verlander was an All-American at Old Dominion University before joining his brother, Justin, in Detroit as the Tigers’ 14th-round pick in 2013. He spent five years in the Tigers’ organization. Follow him on @BenVerlander.
(Want great stories delivered straight to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized daily newsletter.)
Learn more about Major League Baseball Follow your favorites for gaming updates, news, and more
