Folks, there’s no way to sugarcoat this. Major League Baseball is facing a serious plague, and it’s not going away anytime soon.
Yes, I’m talking about arm injuries, specifically to the ulnar collateral ligament.
According to dvsbaseball.com, as of June 3, 2024, 172 pitchers have spent time on the injured list this season due to a throwing arm injury. That’s a combined 8,452 days missed due to arm injuries and roughly $193 million arm injuries have cost teams just this year.
The Orioles have lost three of their starting pitchers, half of their starting rotation, due to UCL injuries in John Means, Tyler Wells and now Kyle Bradish. Not to mention, All-Star closer Félix Bautista is still recovering from Tommy John surgery from a UCL tear sustained last season.
UCL injuries have a few different treatment methods, depending on the grade of the injury (1 being stretched, 3 being fully torn). The most common case we see is full UCL reconstruction, requiring Tommy John surgery, which requires the use of a tendon from another area of the body or a donor. This procedure has a recovery timeline of 12-18 months.
Another option is UCL repair with internal bracing, which, even though it is still invasive, has a slightly shorter recovery time.
Another sports medicine treatment making headlines is platelet rich plasma or PRP injections. This treatment is used to stimulate the healing process and help with the functionality of the elbow for partial tears only. It’s best to think of this as a band aid on a bomb.
So why is this even happening? Well, it’s simple. The body is not designed to withstand the trauma it suffers to be a big league pitcher in today’s game.
Throwing at the very least, let’s say 70+ pitches per game, at over 90 mph, is horrific stress on connective tissue, which is all a ligament is; tissue connecting bone to bone. Over time, tissue gets its wear and tear like the rest of our bodies. Now, imagine speeding that process up by 10.
Pitchers are competing at a level we have never seen before. So many folks complain that these injuries were never a thing back in the day, but they were, just not as common.
Pitchers were not throwing at this crazy velocity every few days, with little to no rest. If you truly think about the “rest” days in between starts, we have to include weight training, bullpen sessions, etc., so it’s not like guys aren’t using their throwing arms every single day between outings.
Your elbow can not repair and recover in this short of a time frame. Inflammation stays. Pain stays. Tears worsen.
We now have prospects in high school throwing 100 mph before their UCL is even fully formed at the adult age of 26. I’ve been doing extensive research, listening to professionals such as Dr. Yoni Rosenblatt, trying to find THE solution for this on-going issue.
However, there truly is no answer, and I fear we’re just in the beginning of a long road ahead. Players are getting faster and stronger, developing crazier pitches and resting less.
MLB banned “sticky substances” in 2022 to make the game more fair, forcing pitchers to grasp the ball even harder. Should we contribute that to this sharp increase in injuries, or should we maybe blame another league implementation, the pitch clock?
Losing Kyle Bradish is a tough blow for the Orioles organization. He’s one of our aces, and his missed presence will be heavily felt. While we still wait to hear the true outcome of injury for Kyle and his recovery timeline, what do you think about this epidemic?
What can be done to help with this issue? Let us know in the comments below! Make sure to follow The Baltimore Battery on Facebook, Twitter (X) and TikTok, and use the hashtag #baltimorebattery when sharing our content!
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