Pitch Tracking Data Helped Make Pitching Dangerous. Perhaps It Can Help Solve the Problem, Too.
"dalek" writes:
I've written previously about how Statcast data is changing professional baseball, but the application of the data has caused at least one very adverse effect: being a pitcher in today's game is bad for your health.
Two of the ways to be an effective pitcher are to generate a lot of swings and misses, and to induce a lot of poor contact. Poor contact means balls that are hit with low exit velocities, or at very high or low launch angles, and these disproportionately result in outs. Statcast data shows that pitchers can achieve this by throwing at high velocities and with a lot of vertical or lateral movement on their pitches. The pitch movement is achieved by spinning the ball at a high rotation rate, and the Magnus effect creates a pressure gradient force across the baseball that deflects it away from its original trajectory. Fastballs tend to have backspin, which imparts an upward acceleration. However, curveballs spin forward and have a downward acceleration, and it's also possible to generate lateral movement. The direction and amount of movement on a pitch is also sometimes referred to as its shape.
The desire for higher velocity and spin rates has led to the rise of "pitching labs" that develop training programs that are very effective at increasing arm strength, improving pitching mechanics, and raising the spin rate of pitches. This comes at a price, however, which is more stress on a pitcher's arm. Major League Baseball (MLB) teams have tried to account for this by allowing pitchers to throw fewer pitches per game and giving them more rest between outings. The added rest helps pitchers consistently throw with high velocity and spin rates, at least for awhile. But all of this added stress seems to have a cumulative effect on a pitcher's elbow. The weakest point is often the Ulnar collateral ligament (UCL), and a partially or completely torn UCL has become an increasingly common pitching injury.
Prior to the increased focus on pitch velocity and shape, high pitch counts were generally considered the biggest factor in UCL injuries. However, the data show an upward trend in fastball velocity in recent years corresponding with a large increase in elbow injuries. As this YouTube video from WIRED shows, throwing a fastball at the hardest velocities seen in MLB places an incredible amount of strain on a pitcher's elbow to the point that it exceeds what the UCL can withstand. Small tears form in the UCL from the forces needed to throw a pitch that hard, and the long-term effect of continuing to pitch under these conditions is often a ruptured ligament.
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