
MLB faces one of the greatest challenges in its long-tenured history. So many pictures went down with long-term or season-ending injuries. It’s a major problem this year and this is one of the worst, if not the worst seasons ever regarding injuries to pitchers.
What’s to blame? As stated in a previous article, it’s not actually the pitch clock. It’s the demand that pitches should throw over 95+ MPH fast baseballs. In addition, even sliders and some curveballs are faster pitches than in previous years.
It’s a trend and unless things change, it’ll not only continue to be a problem but could be at least as bad as the 2024 MLB season.
At some point, pitchers are going to have to make decisions on how to proceed. Will pitchers continue to throw so many pitches at a high velocity? Will they start to deliberately slow their pitches down to maintain longer careers? If the pitches slow down, will there be some risk that they’ll lose the starting pitching jobs to those willing to throw faster?
Let’s not forget that with slower pitches comes greater control of those pitches. There is also something to gain with slower pitches with increasing the number of years a starting pitcher will last. Ideally, at some point, the number of Tommy John surgeries will significantly decrease. Unfortunately, the reality is the exact opposite.
Chances are Starting Pitchers will continue to do what they do now. It’ll be an “acceptable risk and just part of the job”. That’s not a guarantee, it’s the more likely possibility.
Perhaps at some point, this will be a major topic in MLB’s Winter Meetings. It really should be on the agenda if baseball is to avoid having odd seasons like this. If nothing is done, this “odd” season will become normal.
This could negatively impact the team’s ability to trade for Starting Pitchers before the 2024 deadline. What teams will be willing to take risks with such uncertainty? As also pointed out in a previous article, the Texas Rangers are one of those teams facing such a challenge. With multiple pitchers on the 60 disabled list, there are too many risks with casually making trades without considering the consequences. Now, if the Rangers get a good haul in return, maybe they’ll think about it. They might be willing to trade for two premium prospects at pitchers if they’re able to stay in the game 6+ innings regularly.
The fact is MLB has little choice but to talk about this. Someone has to stress player health and safety. Starting Pitchers are taking a serious risk in terms of suffering ligament tears every two to four seasons at this rate. Starting Pitcher could become a great risk comparable to being a running back in the National Football League. One can argue it’s not accurate to compare apples and oranges. The argument is in regards to suffering major injuries as just a normal part of the job and facing the prospect of a very short career.
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