Throw hard. Get hurt.

[Todd4State]

Velocity is like 5-10% of the problem. It's a convenient scapegoat to blame because no one wants to talk about the biggest issues, namely overuse as kids, early specialization, travel ball and playing year round, pitch counts, trainers not knowing how to condition arms for loads & durability. Nolan Ryan threw harder than anyone in the history of the game and never had arm issues. Bob Gibson threw as hard or harder by all accounts. Ditto Tom Seaver, Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, and Curt Schilling. Craig Kimbrel hasn't needed TJ surgery. Billy Wagner pitched a decade before needing it.

By the time a guy gets to the majors now, he's thrown as many or more pitches as the 15 year veteran pitchers of the 90s. And almost all of those pitches are being thrown at max effort in part because of pitch counts. What's the incentive for a pitcher to learn how to pace himself if he knows he's getting pulled after 100 pitches? None, he's going to throw every pitch like it might be his last.

I heard Tom Glavine tell a story about getting a sore elbow when he was in the minors. Said the trainer came in and told him they're playing long toss. Glavine was skeptical about it because his elbow was sore but went along with it. So they did long toss for a couple of weeks, but nothing on the mound. They put him back on the mound and he was pain free, never had the issue again. He just wasn't used to throwing so much. Once they did the long toss and got his elbow used to the load, he was fine. Now guys get completely shut down if they feel anything instead of trying to figure out if it's a conditioning issue.

Early specialization is another problem. Playing different sports strengthens different muscle groups. But now kids are told they have to pick one sport of they want to have a chance to go pro and end up playing maybe one other sport, if any. They don't get the benefits of playing multiple sports the way previous generations of pitchers did.

Again, not saying the emphasis on velocity isn't an issue. It's just not the biggest issue. And there's no easy fix for any of it, because the incentive structures aren't changing. There's a whole ecosystem around travel ball, camps, personal pitching coaches, etc that have a lot to lose if it ever got looked at more closely.

Those guys weren't throwing nearly as hard as they are now. It is rumored that Ryan tore his UCL during his career but it was at the end.

[Todd4State]

Just like steroids didn?t. Those guys should be in the hall.

100% agree. Don't get me on that soapbox.