The Tommy John Epidemic

[nobleisthyname]

So teams will contract with third party scouts to watch players during that period?

Effectively Wild did a deep dive on this in one of their recent episodes. Apparently the rules would disallow even this. No data from activity during this period can ever be viewed by major league teams, no exceptions. The major downside seems to be that teams are expected to self report, so it's basically just on their honor, though teams can snitch on each other if they catch each other breaking the rules.

[nfotiu]

Effectively Wild did a deep dive on this in one of their recent episodes. Apparently the rules would disallow even this. No data from activity during this period can ever be viewed by major league teams, no exceptions. The major downside seems to be that teams are expected to self report, so it's basically just on their honor, though teams can snitch on each other if they catch each other breaking the rules.

I would think that most tournaments would be re-scheduled outside this window.  I'm sure having scouts there is a big selling point to the teams and players.   It's also mostly an NCAA quiet period, so college coaches won't be watching either.

Pitchers will probably use that time to try to build up their velocity.   I'm not sure that will be a good or bad thing for their health.

[HalfSmokes]

Do we think it matters? To me the root cause is that the velocity expected from young pitchers is higher than most bodies can sustain over a long period. Teams don’t care because it makes most pitchers cheap

[Natsinpwc]

Do we think it matters? To me the root cause is that the velocity expected from young pitchers is higher than most bodies can sustain over a long period. Teams don’t care because it makes most pitchers cheap

Also pitching year round from a young age rather than playing other sports.

[imref]

Also pitching year round from a young age rather than playing other sports.

i listened to a podcast with a sports trainer today saying he’s seeing ten year olds now with personal coaches who are playing year-round ball. He argues it’s a recipe for injury and burnout. He blames baseball academies and coaches trying to make a buck.

[HalfSmokes]

For the best athletes, not going year round works because they can show up to tryouts in the spring and make the team. For the rest, it means showing up rusty and maybe not making the team or having to play themselves back into form which can push them to the bench. That holds for just about every youth sport, not just baseball.

[blue911]

i listened to a podcast with a sports trainer today saying he’s seeing ten year olds now with personal coaches who are playing year-round ball. He argues it’s a recipe for injury and burnout. He blames baseball academies and coaches trying to make a buck.

Parental responsibility

[imref]

Interesting video by a former pitcher, now a coach, on the rise of injuries among MLB pitchers and the decline of career length.

https://x.com/JustinOrenduff/status/2001048364985794940?s=20

Over the last few days, I’ve been processing the results of a case study I just finished on the decline of
@MLB
  starting pitchers.

I made this video to speak directly to pitchers, especially aspiring professional pitchers, because you deserve to hear this.

Case study: Top 3 pitchers drafted/signed each year since 2013 (all 30 orgs). In-org only (stop tracking once they leave).

• 1,134 pitchers | $1.27B bonuses
• 25.7% reached MLB (with drafting org)
• 6.4% reached 200+ MLB IP
• 38% arm injury | 28% major

The Top High School pitching prospects in this study undergo a major arm injury after just 159 professional innings.