MLB study identifies factors for rise in pitching injuries - ESPN

Major League Baseball released a 63-page, year-long study on pitching injuries Tuesday, identifying contributing factors to an increase in arm ailments — including players chasing higher velocity and better «stuff» while exerting maximum effort more often, both in-game and non-game situations.

The study identified problems occurring at both the professional and amateur levels after interviewing over 200 people within the industry, including «former professional pitchers, orthopedic surgeons, athletic trainers, club officials, biomechanists, player agents, amateur baseball stakeholders, and other experts in pitcher development.»

The study made broad recommendations — including potential rule changes — to address the increase in pitching injuries. MLB, however, said the study was just the first step in a process which needs even more examination.

For example, tracking pitchers' training and workloads from spring training until the end of the season was an easier task for the study than during the winter months, when players are essentially on their own. This seems particularly important because the study showed that pitching injuries — both minor and more serious — spike during the spring, at least suggesting that pitchers aren't properly prepared for the start of spring training.

The study cited both Shane Bieber and Spencer Strider being lost to Tommy John surgery last March as examples.

The league is concerned with pitchers potentially overworking themselves during the offseason in attempts to optimize «stuff» — a term referencing the «composite movement characteristics of pitches, including horizontal and vertical break and spin rate,» according to the study. Sweepers were cited as a relatively new pitch contributing