WOODBURY — The average fastball in the MLB has risen from 91.2 mph in 2007 to 94.2 mph in recent years, according to Baseball Savant.
There is an undeniable coordination between that and the rise of elbow injuries not only in the MLB, but in baseball players of all ages, from little league to college.
Starters in the MLB on average lasted 6 1⁄3 innings from the years 1980-1999; now it is 5 ⅓, according to Baseball Reference. Pitchers used to rely more on offspeed pitches to mess up hitters’ timing and used precise command to throw the ball in a perfect spot, usually resulting in weak contact when hit.
But the chase for velocity is more apparent than ever.
Perfect Game, the largest scouting system for baseball in America, annually holds events for high school baseball players to come out and compete in front of college and MLB scouts. In 2010, 80 pitchers were able to throw 90 mph or higher, and in 2024 that number was close to 300.
At the peak of a 90 mph pitch, according to Driveline Baseball, the stress put on the elbow is equivalent to holding around a 55-pound weight in your hand at that instant. Doing that over and over can put stress on the elbow, but young players are now doing anything to try and get scouted or recruited to move onto the next level.
“One of my goals is to play baseball in college,” says Nonnewaug sophomore Jackson Demers, a pitcher and outfielder on the Nonnewaug baseball team.
Demers admits he can feel the pressure to gain velocity from his peers as well as new standards for developing pitchers.
“I think that one of the main things that college scouts look for in a pitcher is how fast they throw,” says Demers. “That definitely has me thinking about how hard I throw and making sure I throw fast enough.”
This pressure had gotten to Nonnewaug baseball coach Michael Keating, who injured his ulnar collateral ligament in his freshman year of high school, and was required to get surgery to continue playing. This injury, while common, happens when the UCL, which is major ligament in the elbow, is put under major stress when used repeatedly.
“My UCL injury and recovery was one of the most difficult, excruciating, and downright painful experiences of my entire life,” says Keating.
Keating first noticed his injury while he was pitching during a game for Holy Cross.
“I was pitching in the fifth inning when I felt an explosion come off up my right elbow that felt like a bubble pop in my arm,” Keating said. “I didn’t think anything of it at first. I had experienced many injuries such as tendinitis in my elbow many times and shoulder tightness that only kept me out a couple of games. I thought to myself, it’s just pain, I’ll be OK. Everything was OK until I got back to the dugout. I tried to take a drink from my Gatorade bottle but I couldn’t get it to my mouth. My arm stopped halfway through and I had to get my other arm to push my right arm up so I could take a drink.”
And the recovery journey was long for Keating.
“I was out for approximately 9-10 months. I wasn’t at full strength when I returned but was able to throw at a pace appropriate enough to continue to play,” says Keating. “At around 12-15 months, I began to gain full strength. 20-24 months post-surgery is when I felt the strongest and better than I did before the injury.”
Nonnewaug athletic trainer Sean McGee says he has assisted people in high school with the injury multiple times.
McGee says he sees the injury “at least once a year,” and that “all injuries are related to specification of baseball.”
But McGee believes here are ways to avoid the injury.
“Avoid specialization in baseball/softball and throwing sports. The body needs to rest; it cannot withstand hard throwing 9-12 months out of the year,” says McGee. “This is why three- or four-sport athletes tend to be the best athletes that are not injury-prone. [UCL injury] mainly occurs in baseball pitchers, especially ones that start throwing at a young age.”
But for people who love the game of baseball, like Keating, that can be challenging.
“I loved playing baseball. I traveled for it, bled for it, and lived for it,” says Keating.
Not being able to play or practice all year round can affect one who wants to play college baseball, especially with the thought of gaining velocity or having good pitches while trying to avoid injury.
“I was willing to push myself to limits, most likely too far, in order to help my team do the best we could to succeed,” says Keating. “If I needed to throw 100 pitches, I would. If I needed to throw a lot of offspeed pitches when it meant twisting my arm a lot, I would. If I could play hurt, I would.”
In order to increase his odds of playing college, Keating knew that he would have to change something.
“I knew that if I wanted to continue playing baseball, I had to begin taking better care of my body/arm recovery. I quickly changed from a pitcher/third baseman to primarily just a third baseman who would pitch occasionally,” says Keating, “It affected me tremendously because I had to change the way I played and prepared every day: better warmups, better strength programs, better icing arms after games, etc.”
The whole experience changed how Keating viewed pitching, and he says other youth pitchers should change the way they view it too.
“The goal should be to become a better pitcher year in and year out; however, it should be done in a way that is tracked and recorded for healthy arm recovery. Throwing harder is obviously a big [component] of pitching, but it is not everything,” says Keating. “Throwing harder by definition will most likely increase the chance of injury. That is why recovery is tremendously important for anyone looking to take those next steps in their pitching journey. It’s not worth gaining velocity in an unhealthy way because it will increase injury.”
