The Final MLB Update
This is the reason that pitchers try to throw hard, because it guarantees them more money, and at the end of the day what for us is a sport for them is a dream and a job in which they’re trying to get paid the most money as possible.
The MLB season is off to a great start right now, and fans couldn't be more happy with what is currently going on in baseball. The season has had an electric start. We have seen Elly de La Cruz breakout and have a crazy good start this year being one of the players with the best energy. We have seen Shohei have one of the greatest starts to a season while recovering from Tommy John Surgery. There is a lot of controversy on why teams have not signed one of the best pitchers if they let him rejoin the MLB: Trevor Bauer. He is willing to take the league minimum just to show what he’s got in the MLB. This is a guy who has great stuff and is better than 95% of number 2s or 3s in the league. Bauer is better than more than half of the league aces.
The season has had its flaws though, and we have seen a crazy amount of injuries to start the season off. It hasn't been for just regular starters; it has been the ace’s getting hurt. An ace in the MLB is the best starting pitcher in a team. This season we have seen Spencer Strider go down with an injury and not any injury, he had to get Tommy John surgery, which for a pitcher is the worst news possible. Strider was a Cy Young (best pitcher) Candidate this year before his injury for one of the best teams in the whole league, the Atlanta Braves. The Braves are a WS candidate and with the loss of Strider, it has definitely hurt since Strider gave you 6 innings with 10+Ks every 5 days. Strider is a player that could reach 100 and is one of the best strikeout pitchers in the league.
The big problem is that it has not just been Strider; it has been Sandy Alcantara, Shane Bieber, Gerit Cole, Lucas Giolito, Walker Buhler, and more that would fill a paragraph if I keep mentioning them. The reason for this happening at such a high rate this year is not known. But, many have said that the pitch clock could be a possible reason for the pitcher to get hurt so much now. It is a theory that might make sense because a pitcher has to force his body to throw at a speed which the human body is not able to do naturally and pitchers have to do this every 20 seconds.
Many sport analysts have started to analyze the case and see why this is going on right now, and the main reason they came up with is the hunger of high velocity. As I previously said, players are trying to throw at speeds that are not normal or natural to the human body. Glenn Fleisig, a biomechanical research director, said that through studies it has been found that the ligament is being pushed beyond its limits and that is the answer to why we have seen such a high increase in pitchers getting injured.
The MLB needs to change the ideology that if it's not 95+ MPH, it is not good enough, because chasing velocity has killed many careers and we have lost the prime of many pitchers. The biggest two would be Chris Sale and Jacob Degrom. There are many free agent pitchers that can get the job done throwing 90 MPH but are not signed because that is not what MLB teams are looking for — they prefer a guy with a 4.50 ERA (Earned Run Average) that throws 100+ over a guy with a 3.00ERA that throws 90. This is a huge problem because this tells pitchers they must throw 95+ if they want to maintain their big league job. This is the reason that everyone throws at such a high velocity nowadays.
Sports Illustrated made a research study about starting pitchers that throw at a high velocity and how likely they are to get injured. In this research they took into account how many fastball pitchers threw that were in the average of 96.5 which is considered to be really high. In this study it was found that 18 out of 21 pitchers had problems with their elbow and some even had to get Tommy John surgery twice. This means they’re is an 86% chance of pitchers that throw 96+ to get some type of elbow problem/surgery. This is something that needs to change in the MLB and it's the reason why we're wasting so many great careers because they’re overworking themselves. This just doesn't damage the current players, it also hurts the youth because they try to replicate what they see in the major and they’re hurting their arms.
After all this info you might think how is this the MLB fault or how may they fix this. This is pretty simple: they should make owners have to pay players that don’t have the fastest stuff. A guy like Collin McHugh who retired without a contract last year after having a really solid season retired without a contract most likely because he does not have the fastest stuff. He was a guy that was more effective than many guys who throw 100 while many are getting hit, but because they have faster stuff they are more likely to get a contract and get paid more. McHugh never got paid more than 5 million dollars, although he was one of the most effective pitchers in the MLB for multiple seasons. This is the reason that pitchers try to throw hard because it guarantees them more money and at the end of the day what for us is a sport for this guy is a dream, but also a job in which they’re trying to get paid the most as possible.
The MLB has a guy in the free agency pool that is better than more than 80% of the pitchers in the league. You might wonder why he is not signed and there are multiple reasons, but they are not very valid if you look into it. Bauer was the Cy Young (best pitcher) in 2020, and was a free agent in this year off season which he signed a mega deal for the Los Angeles Dodgers for 102 million for 3 years. Bauer was having a great start to the season repeating the exact same thing he had done the previous year. This was until he was accused of sexual assault, which would end Bauer’s year and lead him to be suspended for 194 games although it was an accusation. Bauer would be released later in 2022 and would lose out of 28 million dollars. This is just based on accusation and nothing has been declared in court.
After the court case it was found that Bauer was not guilty and he was set up, as there were messages found of the girl saying to her friend before meeting with Bauer: “next victim” and “what should I steal.” She said, “I already have hooks in; you know how I roll.” This meant that Bauer lost more than 30 million dollars over accusations that were never true and lost 2 years of his prime which means he may have lost hundreds of millions because with how Bauer has played outside of the U.S he would’ve gotten another hundred million dollar contract if he was never wrongfully accused. Bauer has pitched to a sub 3 ERA while he pitches in Japan and in Mexico to stay in shape. This would make you think that it would have been easy for Bauer to sign an MLB contract because he was never guilty and is a great pitcher, Bauer has tried to show he is major league ready by playing MLB teams in exhibitions games as he has played the Yankees and Dodgers and did not allow a single run in 9+ innings. But, now the MLB has decided to black ball Bauer and he has not been able to sign a major league contract even though he is overqualified. Players have tried to get Bauer back in the MLB as well as many fans who love Bauer, who is a player who you either like or hate because of the way he plays. But he has shown the MLB in the closest way possible for fans by having a youtube channel that shows the MLB from up close.