The New York Yankees announced that ace pitcher Gerrit Cole, the 2023 Cy Young Award winner, would need Tommy John surgery, sidelining him for the 2025 season. This incident underscores the recurring issue of player injuries in baseball, prompting MLB to investigate rising injury rates. The findings revealed that increased pitching velocity and intense training practices, aimed at maximizing performance, are major contributors to injuries. Such developments have intensified discussions about what it takes to be deemed an ace in modern baseball, especially as injuries continue to plague key players.
The email from the New York Yankees arrived just past 6 p.m. a little more than a week before the first game of the 2025 MLB season. The subject line was short but sinister, a harbinger of bad tidings for both the team and the sport writ large at the start of the year.
The study determined that increases in velocity, added emphasis on spin and training to throw with maximum effort were contributing to all the surgeries. In other words: the things that make pitchers great also make pitchers break.
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