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…
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