BOSTON — Matt Moore recalled glancing up at a clubhouse television and seeing the words “Tommy John epidemic.”
It was 2013.
The 34-year-old Angels left-hander, who has been in the major leagues since 2011, was making the point that the current public discourse about pitching injuries is nothing new.
It’s also not simple.
“It’s too case-by-case to say why each person has gotten hurt,” Moore said. “It’s unfair to say it’s one thing.”
The recent spike in significant injuries to prominent pitchers — Shane Bieber of the Cleveland Guardians, Spencer Strider of the Atlanta Braves and Gerrit Cole of the New York Yankees among them – prompted the Major League Baseball Players’ Association to release a statement blaming the pitch timer for the injuries.
MLB followed with its own statement, saying that its studies have shown no connection between the timer and injuries.
The dueling statements felt to Cole like two divorced parents bickering instead of working together to find what is best for their children.
In the Angels’ clubhouse, the veteran pitchers agreed that there are probably multiple reasons that it seems more pitchers are getting hurt these days.
Three reasons, however, stood out among the others.
THE TIMER
Patrick Sandoval, the Angels’ union representative, said his first guess at the cause of the injuries is the pitch timer. Starting in 2023, pitchers had 15 seconds between pitches with the bases empty and 20 seconds with a runner on base. This year it was cut to 18 seconds with a runner on.
“I think the obvious answer, the glaring thing that’s different now, is the pitch clock,” Sandoval said. “I’m not a scientist or anything, but I think having an appropriate amount of time to gather yourself in between pitches is probably beneficial to pitchers. It seems like the league obviously doesn’t really care about that.”
Sandoval, a 27-year-old in his sixth major league season, said he didn’t feel an impact personally in 2023, but he believes that even “not realizing it, it adds up, all the time that’s no longer there. The body needs time to rest and recover.”
Reliever Carlos Estévez, 31, agreed that the timer might be at least partially responsible.
“We get less time to regroup in between pitches, and that’s given us less rest, more tension and more fatigue on our arms,” Estévez said. “That may have something to do with it.”
Angels television analyst Mark Gubicza, who pitched in the majors from 1984 to 1997, fired back on that theory, though.
“People are blaming the pitch timer, and I absolutely 100% do not agree with that,” Gubicza said. “We threw the ball within eight to 12 seconds every time.”
Gubicza, however, conceded that there is another difference in the way that pitchers threw those pitchers, from his era to today.
VELOCITY
The average fastball in 2008 – the first year when a consistent pitch tracking system was available throughout the game – was 91.1 mph. Anecdotally, it was certainly even slower back in 1980, 1990 or 2000.
In 2023, it was 93.3 mph.
The rise, pitchers say, is not simply because training has made pitchers stronger, but also because the philosophy has changed to have pitchers throw at 100% effort every time. Gubicza said in his day pitchers would hold back, allowing them to work deeper into games.
“When you’re throwing full max every single pitch, from bullpen sessions to game action, it’s taxing on our arm,” Gubicza said. “I don’t blame (the pitchers) at all. They’re being told ‘Just go as hard as you can for as long as you can.’”
Sandoval said he’s been raised to throw every pitch at 100%.
Estévez said the desire for velocity, combined with the clock, is a bad mix.
“If you’re trying to throw harder and you’re gonna try to use more your body, of course you’re gonna get even more tired when you have less time (between pitches),” Estévez said. “It’s gotta be both.”
THE BASEBALL
Left-hander Tyler Anderson, 34, said every time he gets a new baseball from an umpire, it’s a crap shoot.
“Sometimes it’s like a college baseball because the seams are so high,” Anderson said, “and then I’ll get one that’s nice. This feels like the old days, with no seams at all. They’re definitely inconsistent. I don’t remember them being as inconsistent.”
Inconsistency in itself can cause problems for pitchers, but Moore also suggested that a change in the balls is what led to the change in strategies for the hitters and the pitchers.
“The changing of the ball has switched the approach of the hitters, so now you’re pitching more toward swing and miss,” Moore said. “It was never a good idea to hit the ball in the air for the longest time, but something changed objectively with the instruments we use, and that led to something else.”
UP NEXT
Angels (LHP Reid Detmers, 2-0, 1.64 ERA) at Red Sox (TBD), Friday, 4:10 p.m. PT, Bally Sports West, 830 AM
