In February of 1949, the Connecticut state police department did something that would change American society forever. They became the first to issue speeding tickets based on speed recorded by radar device. The radar gun, developed by John L. Barker and Ben Midlock for the military in World War II, replaced fleets of police bikes chasing cars and trying to catch them. Cars were getting faster and faster, and by the 1950s, the use of radar guns was much more common in catching speeders. But in 1949, no one expected that these machines would take over America’s game and drive talented pitchers to career threatening injuries.

In 2013, the average fastball among qualifying pitchers was 92 mph. That was up 1.1 mph from 2008, a significant increase for that time period. In 2003, only 1 pitcher- Billy Wagner- threw at least 25 pitchers 100 mph or faster. In 2013, there were eight pitchers who hit the mark. Looking at offensive statistics also show the shift in power from the plate to the mound. In 1999, the league batting average reached a high of .271 and last year it was all the way down at .254. As power continues to shift to the mound, it is time to examine the causes and the effects of this trend.

While pitching velocities have increased, so have the injuries. This year there have already been to undergo Tommy John surgery. From 1975 to 1989 , there were 33 players in the MLB who underwent Tommy John surgery. In 2014-2015, there were 60. The number of pitchers getting the surgery increased rapidly throughout the nineties and early 2000’s as baseball entered the peak of the steroid era and reached 46 in 2012. Grantland estimates that roughly 25% of professional pitchers have undergone the surgery. The numbers are just as bad at the collegiate and high school levels as well. The American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine has found that 56.7% of all Tommy John surgeries performed between 2007 and 2011 were on athletes aged 15 to 19 years old, and the rate is estimated to be going up about 9.1% every year. These are statistics for players who have their whole careers ahead of them.

The same study also discovered that 53% of all surgeries take place in the South, where players can play year-round. This presents the main threat to pitching arms- year-round travel baseball. Players of the millennial generation, especially those who live in the South, are much more likely to specialize in one sport by the time they get to high school. For those that choose baseball, they could be playing in the spring, summer, and fall with relaxed to intense workouts in the winter. This is unprecedented; players of previous generations played basketball or football to give their arms rest in the offseason. Kids want to play all year so they can have the best chance of getting seen by college coaches or even MLB scouts and this hyper focus on getting recruited takes attention away from being cautious with their bodies. Of course, baseball has become insanely competitive. As a former high school baseball player myself who played against teams from all over the nation, I can attest to this mentality of always having to pitch as much as possible in order to have the best opportunity to get seen. In addition, I can also say that this trend of playing year-round does not necessarily make one a better pitcher. In order to improve as a pitcher, you need to have off days. You need long toss days. You need bullpen days. You need days of casually playing catch. You need weightlifting, conditioning and stretching days. Now, professional pitchers get all of this, so why has a disproportionate number of them also had more injuries? I would answer this question by saying that for many of these major league pitchers, the problems start years before they get to the bigs.

All those days I mentioned earlier are nearly impossible to get within a “travel baseball” season that lasts almost all year. Pitching in 2 games a week for 20 weeks straight at 14 years old from May to September is not the path to throwing harder or getting a sharper curveball - but it could be the path to an injury. It’s even worse for your arm if you spend those 40 outings trying to throw the snot out of the ball and light up the radar gun to get noticed. The problem is not simply that kids are throwing too much, it’s that they’re pitching too much. The difference is that throwing does not require maximum effort and pressure that puts a strain on the arm. In fact, I would contend that current, young pitchers don’t throw enough. Most of what they do with their arms is in front of a bunch of scouts holding up radar guns. Leo Mazzone, former pitching coach during the Braves’ glory days of Maddux, Smoltz and Glavine, outlines this problem in his book, Pitch Like A Pro. Mazzone says that he trained those three pitchers to have a lot of easy throwing days, combined with a weekly but relaxed long-toss effort, and then bullpen days. Stretching and conditioning is done almost every day. He claims that more and more young pitchers have forgotten the value of just playing catch, which allows for the tendons in your arm to loosen and release the lactic acid that has built up in their muscles. It is also a great way to work on different grips and mechanics. Again, as someone who is a young pitcher, I would certainly that during baseball season, there is little to no focus on strengthening your arm, rather the focus is on getting ready for the next outing.

Baseball is getting younger and younger. Unlike the NBA and NFL, you do not have to go to college or be out of high school for a certain amount of time to play professional baseball. More and more high school students are entering the minor leagues before they can even drink legally. And many of them are pitchers. Even the best Division 1 programs have to account for the players that might choose to go pro instead of taking their scholarships. There is disagreement on whether or not this is a good thing, but we should all agree that as this is happening, it is important to pay attention to the rising number of young pitchers having to get serious arm injuries. If you are a young pitcher or your son is, do not be afraid to let them take time off. At the very least, you should not be spending 90% of your time on the mound. Play light catch, long toss, workout, and stretch. And if you still have time, play other sports. Playing basketball in the winter instead of throwing off a turf mound in an indoor facility several times a week just might be what saves your arm, and your money, from a detrimental surgery.