Ryan L. Crotin, PhD, CSCS, RSCC’s Post

Part 1 Fastball Usage With the now heavy emphasis velocity , then why is the usage down ? Why are more and more pitchers getting hurt ? Why are more youth pitchers getting hurt more then ever before ? We have so much velo training then why are pitchers throwing more off speed ? Just think of constantly driving your car as fast as you can . What happens? Where and tear , if you don’t Maintenance your car the quicker it breaks down . With more velo I see less command of the pitch . Pitchers are over throwing at max effort. I see so many guys fly off the ball because they are told rotation is a key Ingredient to velo. It maybe but it also is tough to have plus command when your moving away from the target . So when moving away from the target the only thing they can do is spin it in the zone . Breaker in the zone to a elite hitter is a hangers . If we keep telling velo guys to just pitch to the zone , in my opinion you will not see sustainable pitchers .

Part 1/2: Average 4-seam velocity. In the last few years there have been huge jumps in innovation of sophisticated and targeted: warm up/recovery methods, understanding of stress and workload, weighted balls, long toss, and strength training programs. This opens the door to pitchers being able to throw harder. Also keep in mind is the average length starters are going is progressing less and less. In 2012 the average IP for a starting pitcher was 6IP. In May of the 2022 season that average (granted it was early in the season) was 4.72IP. Starting pitchers are no longer expected to go deep into games like they used to be, so they don’t need to think about conserving energy knowing they can and will come out whenever they feel done. Relievers velocity is down because of a direct correlation. The stereotypical relief pitcher is a flamethrower that comes in to blow it by guys and close the game, but if you have a starting pitcher throwing 100mph and have a relief pitcher coming in also throwing 100mph it takes away from the overall goal of bringing a fresh different look to hitters later in games. This is where you see pitchers like Tyler Rogers come in and really shake things up.

Starting pitchers average 4 seam fastball velocity has increased each year since 2018 while relievers average fastball velocity has plateaued.  Mechanics have not changed at the MLB level drastically/meaningfully over recent years yet injury rates climb. Something else must be the root cause... Holding acceleration constant, with more mass, force increases (F=ma). For every 2 lbs of valgus force added, 3 Nm of varus torque is created in the deceleration phase in follow through. Increasing acceleration without a commensurate increase in the decelerator muscles will lead to increased chance of injury.  Could increased injury rates amongst starting pitchers, who are throwing faster every year, be a strength related issue (ie. fatigue, imbalance, etc)? Strength Matters Most!

Alright here goes Left Graph - Velocity in 2012 differed of 2mph from starter to reliever and continued to both increase until 2016-18 while relievers ave dropped more than starters.They were also less consistent with drops/gains while starters ave had less of a drop yet showed a dramatic increase and is continuing to do so. This could be related to knowing that as a starter you are throwing a 5 and dive so they can go more all out than prior years when expected to throw 7+ - The red circle is highlighting such a dramatic drop/highly inconsistent activity - I am trying so hard to understand the in between measures but have no clue haha 2)Middle graph - Fastball usage from overall pitch count is decreasing as years progress ,most likely due to Rapsodo/trackman data etc for pitches that will make someone “more successful.” 3) Top Right - Could show that when a pitcher is in full external rotation the amount of tension that is created is = to a person holding a 2lb weight at end range for valgus Stress test. The amount of torque produced on the elbow prior to throwing this = to 3nm of torque on the elbow. 4)Bottom Right -Depicts the more mass a person has predicts their ability to produce more force , ( mass x Acceleration)

I made a spreadsheet a while ago detailing the reported height and weight of Hall of Fame pitchers (most likely not 100% accurate but place to start) and found the average weight per inch of height was about 2.75 lb/in. When determining ideal weights for players I work with, I find that this is a good starting place depending on the biologic and chronologic age of the athlete. When I did a deeper dive on fully developed athletes who meet that benchmark, I found they were seriously injured less often. This is not an absolute rule for weight, but a starting place to individualize for an athlete because there are many successful players above and below that density.

(1/2)Greg Maddux: "The reason I think I'm a good pitcher is I locate my fastball and I change speeds. Period. That's what you do to pitch. That's what pitchers have to do to win games." What we see is the loss of the art of pitching. The first diagram shows us that the AVERAGE speed has increased for the starters. We know relief pitchers have a very limited number of pitches, so they go out blazing for a short period (1 ish innings). Now that we are seeing starters reduce their number of innings, they are being more selective on when they throw a 4 seam, and when they do throw, they are throwing at the level of a relief pitcher. Starters have reduced the number of fastballs so they could throw the sexier pitches (slider, curve, etc). Infact I believe the average speed of the slider has increased vs stagnant speed of the 4 Seam (as seen in the middle chart). The additional numbers seem on the graph show us the average number of injured pitchers and the average number of games missed. This leads to a decrease in the use of your expensive tools. I hate when my tools cost so much and get so like done when they are sitting around. The diagram on the right show us that for every 2# of weight in ER with valgus, it will take 3Nm of

I am starting with the chart on the left. The average fastball velocity of starting pitchers seems to be climbing still, while relievers have plateaued over the past couple of years. The numbers inside the chart must be the number of Tommy John surgeries performed on pitchers during the year, so for 2012, 30 MLB players had the surgery. The circle highlights that the reliever velocity curve level has little to change the number of surgeries. Also, fastballs are thrown less in today’s game but at a higher average velocity, which might indicate that while increased velocity might play a role in needing Tommy John, other factors, such as fatigue, might play more significant roles. The number of pitches thrown, how many days pitched in a row, and the ability to recover all factor in how quickly a pitcher might tire in a game. Under the X-Axis, the number is probably of starters who had the surgery that year. On the right is the indication that increasing one’s mass will increase the amount of force that one can generate. The more force the body can generate without stressing the arm will likely be healthier than someone with less mass. I’m thinking of the CC Sabathia and Tim Lincecum comparison.

Beyond the poster (2 parts) 1/2: A note on the article referenced: “the most important aspect of youth to high school training is education. Pitchers must simply know when to set the ball down. For those youth to high school pitchers who follow velocity programs late into the Fall, the risk is apparent.” The article cites Mike Reinold’s research in which he specifically writes, “It’s important to note that we followed our players for the season after performing an offseason weighted ball program. We see far more injuries in the season after than while actually performing the weighted ball program.” In other words (and I support based off my experience), the injuries are coming in-season likely because players are less in line with appropriate “fatigue units” as demands shift. During off-season training programs, work-rest ratios are easier to control and there’s less instances of players playing on multiple teams, extra camps, extra practices, etc.

So I’m going to start on the right side instead of the left. Obviously the bottom right is illustrating the relationship between higher body mass and the ability to produce higher force. Citing Finn’s law that was mentioned in another post by Ryan L. Crotin, PhD, CSCS, RSCC , the acceleration is relatively constant regardless of the size, then the best way to increase force is to increase mass. Just above that, I think the picture is trying to say that for every 2 lb increase of valgus force at the elbow, you need a concurrent 3 Nm of varus torque to protect the elbow. This is generally provided dynamically by the wrist flexor group and statically by the UCL. As these pitchers throw harder and harder, their fastball usage almost has to go down to decrease cumulative stress on the elbow, despite innings pitched decreasing as well. The chart on the left obviously represents the closing gap between average 4 seam FB for starters and relievers. Very large jump in FB velocity for starters from 2020 until now (could this be due to increased training/workout time during the early part of the pandemic??) Theories for the extra numbers in the next thread….

Some presumptions for the slide (2 parts) 1/2: Overall Thesis: Mass is a precursor to both throwing hard and avoiding injury. Top-right: Echoing Fleiseg’s (2010) research, the image is depicting that for every +3Nm of varus torque the elbow experiences, it is an equivalent of hanging +2lb of weight from the hand; in an effort to stop your arm from externally rotating too far from valgus stress, an eccentric IR (varus) torque is needed. Bottom-right: The lower the amount of mass of surrounding musculoskeletal structures, the less force your arm will be able to withstand. Given that the UCL has a failure threshold of approximately 30-40 Nm of varus torque (and varus torques may routinely exceed 75-80 Nm), throwing athletes are especially susceptible to UCL injury. As such, throwers must have their bodies conditioned to withstand enough force to minimize the amount of stress that the UCL takes on...