Pitcher Injury Analysis Project

4/11/2007

Most people assume that there is no way to predict whether a pitcher will be injured (or not) and that there is nothing you can do to reduce the risk that a pitcher will become injured.
     They assume that it all comes down to luck.
     I used to be one of those people. However, over the past few years I have begun to wonder whether that is actually the case; whether it does in fact all come down to luck or whether there are reasons why some pitchers get injured and some don't.
     As a result, I have begun to analyze the motions and mechanics of a number of professional pitchers and look for patterns that might predict whether a pitcher will be injured (or not). As part of the process, I have also begun to test the model that I am developing by making some predictions about whether I think certain young pitchers will — or will not — experience significant injuries over the next few years.
     The goal is to see whether I can understand why certain pitchers experience certain injuries and whether, by making a few tweaks to the mechanics of pitchers, you can significantly decrease the risk that a pitcher will be injured.
     Stay tuned for my findings.
     In the meantime, I do answer questions from people who have injured their pitching arms. The more pitchers — and the more injuries — I see the more certain I will be about the patterns and correlations that I believe I am seeing.