Pedro Martinez is the latest legend to weigh in on the pitching injury crisis.
Posting to X on Tuesday, the Baseball Hall of Famer put a lot of the onus on analytics gurus in MLB front offices for the rash in elbow injuries the last several years.
“When we see so many up and coming MLB pitchers with fewer than 200 innings in the minors, lots of muscle mass, underworked baby ligaments and a team demanding max velo on everything they throw, we’re seeing the perfect lethal combination for arm injury,” Martinez tweeted.
“The analytics department has forced the young kids by pressuring them to have revolution, velocity and spin rate…that’s too much for baby ligaments.”
He wrote about how things have changed since he was developing in the minor leagues.
“When in the minors I focused on working my ligaments; I never lifted heavy weights,” Martinez continued.
“Time has changed, and so has training, but if you want to become a pitcher, you should strive to learn the feel for pitching and the knowledge of what to do with the ball rather than throwing hard.”
Martinez, 52, did not put any blame on the pitch clock, which has been cited in various conversations as a possible contributor to the rash of injuries since it was adopted by MLB last year to improve the pace of play.
Guardians ace Shane Bieber is already out for the year with an elbow injury, and Braves ace Spencer Strider has experienced an elbow issue on which the team won’t elaborate about the severity.
Astros pitcher Justin Verlander was on a similar wavelength as Martinez when he described the “pandemic” of pitching injuries earlier this week.
“Everybody is throwing as hard as they possibly can and spinning the ball as hard as they possibly can,” Verlander said.
He cited the change of baseballs that “started flying out” of the park in 2016, saying it changed his mentality on the mound.
“That changed how I had to approach pitching,” Verlander said.
“You had to start approaching the batter like, ‘I want a swing and miss. You can’t put the ball in play.’“
