One Boston Red Sox All-Star who has been a top-end reliever for the last decade recently offered up a fascinating comparison for why the pitch clock is a major cause of the epidemic of elbow injuries for pitchers this season.
The 2024 MLB season has not gotten off to a good start for quite a few talented starting pitchers around the league. To begin the season, Guardians star Shane Bieber, Yankees pitcher Jonathan Loáisiga, Miami’s Eury Pérez, and Oakland’s Trevor Gott have all been diagnosed with elbow injuries. Then last week, Braves ace Spencer Strider saw his year-end just a few starts into the campaign.
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It is a shocking outbreak of serious injuries all at once that has many around MLB wondering what the cause of the issue is. The MLBPA has blamed the addition of the pitch clock in 2023 as the cause of the injuries while the league has denied that thinking.
On Monday, during an appearance on the “Baseball Isn’t Boring” podcast four-time All-Star and current Boston Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen made an interesting case against the pitch clock and used powerlifting as an example.
Boston Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen makes an interesting case for why the pitch clock has led to outbreak of elbow injuries
“You can tell any bodybuilder when they’re doing their lifting, cut their two-minute break by 30 seconds. What do you think is going to happen?” Jansen asked. “If you’re going to deadlift or do whatever, and you got to do five, six reps, and then instead of taking a minute-thirty break, or even two, and then do it in 18 seconds, what do you think is going to happen? … Their back’s going to blow, right?”
“Pitchers can not step off and take a deep breath. You’re not giving your body a chance to recover. I’m not saying be out there 30 seconds between every pitch. I’m not saying to eliminate the pitch clock, either. But why so rushed?” he said.
“… At some point, we got to look at ourselves and just grab our ego and take our pride away instead of trying to be the genius of the freaking league…It’s hurting the game, also. You don’t want to see Gerrit Cole out. You don’t want to see Bieber out. You don’t want to see Strider out,” said Jansen. “… I wish they could revisit this matter and put your egos and pride aside … Make an adjustment with it because it’s hurting the game.”
At this point, the pitch clock isn’t going anywhere and many have praised how quick MLB games were in 2023 when it was introduced. One has to wonder if it may force pitchers to adjust their effort level on each pick and reel it in from maximum output on every pitch.
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