Stuff over stats: A pitcher believes he knows why so many hurlers are ailing

No matter which major league baseball team you root for, chances are very good that at least one of its pitchers started the season on the injured list. Or perhaps they are out for the year. Or, maybe they are still recovering from an injury from last season.

Injuries are rampant in MLB, especially with pitchers, which is why Tommy John is somebody even casual baseball fans know. Not for his pitching career, however, but for being the first player to undergo a special ligament reconstruction surgery that was eventually named after him.

While quite common these days, Tommy John surgery used to be rare. In fact, from 1974-94, it was performed on only 12 players. From 1995-2011, however, 216 players had the surgery. And just over the last three years, 91 players have had it. While these stats encompass all MLBers, over 1,000 pitchers have needed the procedure, and some more than once.

Even if they don’t need any type of surgery, rosters are routinely full of ailing pitchers. So, what gives? Why are pitchers getting hurt at such a high rate now? 

Chris Bassitt of the Toronto Blue Jays says you don’t have to look any further than the scoreboard showing the mph of the pitcher on the mound.

“MLB started a very, very, very big issue … probably 10 years ago when they decided that 97 was way, way, way more valuable than 91,” he said on the Chris Rose Rotation.

Worse, Bassitt added, was that even if the guy who didn’t throw as fast had better statistics, a team would be much more likely to keep – and give a nice payday to — the pitcher throwing heat.

“So you set the precedent that stuff meant more than stats. Well, then everyone in baseball started chasing stuff because they’re like you guys are changing the goalpost, so to speak, of what you want. You don’t really want stats; you want stuff. And then you’re hoping for stats.”

Bassitt (who himself had Tommy John surgery) said that when he got to the big leagues in 2014, there were a handful of pitchers around MLB who could get up to 100 mph. Now, most teams have guys who routinely approach triple digits. Therefore, he says it’s not surprising that so many pitchers end up on the injured list.

“Of course injuries are going to happen at an alarming rate because you have a natural human body that’s not made to throw 95, 96, 97. They’re made to throw 91, 92, and that’s okay. But we’re not teaching pitching; we’re teaching stuff.”

Perhaps most disturbing, Bassitt says, is the trickle-down effect this creates. Minor leaguers emulate major leaguers, and they start throwing harder. College players see what minor leaguers are doing, and they ratchet up the velocity. 

And then high school pitchers also start trying to get their speed up. This is hardly sustainable, however, as the average career length for a major league pitcher is now a mere 2.7 years.

So, is there any solution for the stuff versus stats quandary baseball now finds itself in?

“I just think we have to get back,” Bassitt said. “I think we have to start setting the precedent in MLB where we care about pitching rather than throwing.”