Comments on: Commentary

By: Matt Evers

Matt Evers — Tue, 05 Apr 2022 18:25:52 +0000

If you’re a pitcher in early teen years play catch everyday . Start at 30, then, 40, the, 50, then 60. No off speed pitchers. 3 to 4 days a week play long toss. Use your legs and arm. 100, 200, then 300. High arching throws, 60 to 75 % effort. Cool down by reducing distance. Always have a long sleeve shirt in your bag to wear after throwing workout, or game . Wear a jacket when your team is hitting, wear the jacket on the way home in car with ac on. Wear a long sleeve shirt when sleeping in a cool room. My son did this from age 15 thru minor league ball. Even at age 40 he can still hit the mid 80’s. The arm is a muscle, use it. BTW, doesn’t hurt to run,jog 4 poles after pitching or workout, they call it “changing the oil”.

By: Danoh

Danoh — Thu, 28 Dec 2017 10:39:27 +0000

I agree that this is a multifaceted problem with many roads that lead to potential injuries. The one thing I notice is the lack of throwing ability of many players including infielders, outfielders, and catchers. Let me explain: As a kid that grew up in the 60’s and 70″s we would go out to the backyard and play whiffle ball. We would mimic Major Leaguers that threw side arm, 3/4 , overhand, and submarine. We would then play football and throw like Joe Willie Namath, Johnny U, Len Dawson and Darrel Lomonica. The next day we would play basketball and bounce pass like Jerry West and throw the deep outlet pass like Russell or Wilt. Now fast forward to today with kids that only play one sport and they look goofy throwing a football, or playing basketball. The end result shows up in the poor throwing mechanic I see today. The ability to throw, especially other types of balls, helps develop a sense of body mechanics that can help a player adjust so that pain and effort is minimized.

By: Patrick Fitzgerald

Patrick Fitzgerald — Tue, 14 Apr 2015 17:08:53 +0000

While watching the Bisbee Killer Termites take on the Sierra Vista Corn Snakes, one of the pitchers stared the game, threw a no hitter, ending the game having completed just over 200 pitches and that came less than 3 days after another marathon effort of 180 pitches in a game. I spoke with the parents and was told this was a fairly normal occurrence and that warm up was the key to ensuring there is no injury. Pitch counts are not the answer.

Good article Lou!

By: John Mugarian

John Mugarian — Mon, 16 Mar 2015 14:28:37 +0000

In reply to larry. You're right! The intent of the article was to show what is happening in the upper levels of baseball (college & pro), where the focus on arm care is heightened, yet injuries and surgeries are off the charts. We could have written a novel on injuries, abuse, and overuse of youth players. Since a lot has already been written by Doctors, and the MLB thru the PitchSmart program, we wanted to focus more on what is happening in college & pro ball. The PitchSmart program falls way short of explaining what is happening in the upper levels.

By: larry

larry — Fri, 20 Feb 2015 15:27:29 +0000

In the Feb 20, 2015 issue, the special report about weight training as a possible cause of TJ surgery is interesting. However I don’t believe that is the whole story. For one, a lot more surgeons know how to perform these surgeries(money), and in the case of
young players, they may heal if they just take a few years off. EVen in the article it brings up youth players getting these surgeries at a young age. If they are young and not even bench pressing yet, how is it weight training???
They are not even in shape! Plus there are many pitchers even in this era who don’t lift to any extent as evidenced by their fat or gangly bodies. Come-on. One of the effective comments I agree with is that the pitcher should concentrate on his legs and back and not so much other muscles.

By: Al Figone

Al Figone — Sat, 20 Dec 2014 21:44:29 +0000

Everyone must be conscious of pitch counts. More importantly, it’s the ability to use slow-framed video-analysis repeatedly with every player ensure their throwing/pitching mechanics are not stressing or creating long-term injuries that ultimately will win the battle. Teach players at a young age how to self-analyze all of their executions!

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 08:05:08 +0000

While pitch count might not be the ultimate answer, they help preventing overuse. We cant ignore the facts that the average number of innings pitched per game is a risk factor for shoulder injury in youth baseball pitchers;Pitch count programs cut by half the risk of shoulder injury in youth baseball pitchers
As a superior pitcher increases his pitch count, it is likely that he would increase the number of curve balls thrown. While confusing semantics is always involved in throwing pitches that go crooked, as opposed to those that go straight, young pitchers are often injured due to irresponsible training and attempts to force them to use competitive skills that are more suited for older players.

By: Jake

Jake — Tue, 11 Feb 2014 01:19:04 +0000

Another stat you can add is that 124 out of the 360 pitchers in the big leagues in 2013 have had Tommy John surgery at some point in their career. I recently saw a product from former big league player, Jeff Salazar, who has had a torn UCL (Ulnar Collateral Ligament, Tommy John). He made a product called FlowWraps that he designed for pitchers to use in between innings instead of wrapping their arms in a towel. It is supposed to keep the muscles, tendons, ligaments in peak state.

By: Jim Ross

Jim Ross — Tue, 28 Jan 2014 15:10:59 +0000

Like most of life, it is almost always wrong to over simplify human endeavors. But, comparing Hall of Fame pitchers like Koufax and Ryan to modern pitchers ignores not only the obvious problem of comparing genetically gifted individuals to a population which is, by definition, average. As one who pitched as an amateur in the 1960’s and as a minor league professional in the early 1970’s, I can tell you that sore arms were not nearly as common as they are today. It is my view that most good athletes that become pitchers get damaged by travel (“select”) baseball programs while they are still growing and go off to college with the arm of an old worn out pitcher of a previous generation. We limit many activities of children vs. adults and pitching a baseball needs to be limited in duration and closely supervised by coaches who will place his long term arm health above their teams’ won/loss record.

By: Brandon

Brandon — Sat, 21 Sep 2013 01:17:00 +0000

Good stuff, Lou. Baseball Prospectus did an interesting study on pitch counts recently. http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=21700