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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Is there a way to mitigate pitching injuries? The Rays (and Dodgers) may shed some light
Tommy John surgery was never supposed to go this far. It was once a cross-your-fingers-and-pray fix for a career-ending injury. Now, MLB teams cycle through as many as 40-plus pitchers a year, knowing that surgery is a phone call away. Just ask John himself, a left-hander who never threw all that hard, only reaching the mid-80s on his sinking fastball. The soft-throwing lefty was having his best year as a Dodgers starting pitcher in 1974. He didn't have the strikeout acumen of teammate Andy Messersmith, or the ace makeup of future Hall of Famer Don Sutton. But what John did have was consistency. John consistently pitched late into games, and sent opposing hitters back to the dugout without reaching first base. Read more: Pitching injuries continue to be an issue in MLB. How it's impacting pitchers at all levels 'The game of baseball is 27 outs,' said John, now 82. 'It wasn't about throwing hard. It's, how do I get you out?' He was the first to go under the knife. The first to lead pitchers through a dangerous cycle of throwing as hard as possible, knowing the safeguard is surgery. 'I threw one pitch and boom, the ligament exploded,' John said. John's arm injury left a sensation akin to what an amputee feels after losing a limb. In 1978, he told Sports Illustrated, 'It felt as if I had left my arm someplace else.' He didn't feel pain. He felt loss. His left arm was his career. It was the direct cause for his toeing the Dodger Stadium mound in the first place. Then, John went on to pitch another 15 years in MLB. It's the same loss that Hall of Fame Dodgers left-hander Sandy Koufax felt when he retired at age 30 after numerous arm injuries, which could have likely been fixed if current elbow and shoulder surgeries had existed in 1966. It's the same loss that Texas Rangers team physician Keith Meister sees walking daily into his office. Today, Meister can view MRI scans of elbow tears and can tell pitchers where and how they hold the baseball. The tear patterns are emblematic of the pitches being thrown in the first place. The solution — Tommy John surgery, a once-revolutionary elbow operation — replaces a torn or partially damaged ulnar collateral ligament in the elbow with a tendon from somewhere else in the body. The operation is no quick fix. It requires a 13- to 14-month recovery period, although Meister said some pitchers may require just 12 months — and some up to 18. Meister, who is currently tallying data and researching the issue, wants to be part of the change. Midway through an October phone interview, he bluntly stopped in his tracks and asked a question. 'What is the average length of a major-league career for a major-league pitcher?' he said. Meister explained that the average career for an MLB pitcher is just 2.6 years. Along with numerous other interviewees, he compared the epidemic to another sport's longevity problem: the National Football League running back. 'People say to me, 'Well, that sounds like a running back in football,'' Meister said. 'Think about potentially the money that gets saved with not having to even get to arbitration, as long as organizations feel like they can just recycle and, you know, next man up, right?' Financial ramifications play close to home between pitchers and running backs as well. Lower durability and impact have led to decreasing running-back salaries. If pitchers continue to have shorter careers, as Meister puts it, MLB franchises might be happy to cycle through minimum-salary pitchers instead of shelling out large salaries for players who remain on the injured list rather than in the bullpen. The Dodgers and the Tampa Bay Rays have shuffled through pitchers at league extremes over the last five years. In the modern era — since 1901 — only the Rays and Dodgers have used more than 38 pitchers in a season three times each. Tampa used 40-plus pitchers each year from 2021 to 2023. Last year, the Dodgers used 40 pitchers. Only the Miami Marlins tasked more with 45. The Dodgers have already used 35 pitchers this season, second-most in baseball. The Rays tallied just 30 in 2024 and have dispatched just 23 on the mound so far this season. What gives? Meister says the Rays may have changed their pitcher philosophy. Early proponents of sweepers and other high-movement pitches, the Rays now rank near the bottom of the league (29th with just 284 thrown) in sweeper usage entering Saturday's action, according to Baseball Savant. Two years ago, the Rays threw the seventh most. Tampa is rising to the top of MLB in two-seam fastball usage, Meister said, a pitch he says creates potentially much less stress on the elbow. Their starting pitchers are second in baseball in the number of innings, and they've used just six starting pitchers all season. 'It's equated to endurance for their pitchers, because you know why? They're healthy, they're able to pitch, they're able to post and they're able to go deeper into games,' Meister said. 'Maybe teams will see this and they'll be like, 'Wait a minute, look what these guys won with. Look how they won. We don't need to do all this crap anymore.'' The Dodgers, on the other hand, rank ninth in sweeper usage (1,280 thrown through Friday) and have used 16 starting pitchers (14 in traditional starting roles). Meanwhile, their starting pitchers have compiled the fewest innings in MLB. Rob Hill, the Dodgers' director of pitching, began his career at Driveline Baseball. The Dodgers hired him in 2020. Since then, the franchise has churned out top pitching prospect after top pitching prospect, many of whom throw devastating sweepers and change-ups. Read more: Hernández: Secret to Yoshinobu Yamamoto's 2025 success? His hero-like effort in NLDS Game 5 As of Saturday, the Dodgers have 10 pitchers on the injured list, six of whom underwent an elbow or shoulder operation — and since 2021, the team leads MLB in injury list stints for pitchers. 'There are only probably two teams in baseball that can just sit there and say, 'Well, if I get 15 to 20 starts out of my starting pitchers, it doesn't matter, because I'll replace them with somebody else I can buy,'' Meister said. 'That's the Yankees and the Dodgers.' He continued: 'Everybody else, they've got to figure out, wait a minute, this isn't working, and we need to preserve our commodity, our pitchers.' Outside of organizational strategy changes, like the Rays have made, Meister has expressed rule changes to MLB. He's suggested rethinking how the foul ball works or toying with the pitch clock to give a slightly longer break to pitchers. He said pitchers don't get a break on the field the same way hitters do in the batter's box. 'Part of the problem here is that a hitter has an ability to step out of the box and take a timeout,' Meister said. 'He has to go cover a foul ball and run over to first base and run back to the mound. He should have an opportunity take a break and take a blow.' Meister hopes to discuss reintroducing 'tack' — a banned sticky substance that helps a pitcher's grip on the ball — to the rulebook, something that pitchers such as Max Scherzer and Tyler Glasnow have called a factor in injuries. Meister has fellow leading experts on his side too. 'Myself and Dr. [Neal] ElAttrache are very good friends, and we talk at length about this,' said Meister. Meister explained that the lack of stickiness on the baseball causes pitchers to squeeze the ball as hard as possible. The 'death grip on the ball,' Meister said, causes the muscles on the inner side of the elbow to contract in the arm and then extend when the ball is released. The extension of the inner elbow muscles is called an eccentric load, which can create injury patterns. The harder the grip, the more violent the eccentric load becomes when a sweeper pitch, for example, is thrown, he said. 'Just let guys use a little bit of pine tar on their fingertips,' Meister said, adding that the pitchers already have to adjust to an inconsistent baseball, one that changes from season to season. 'Not, put it on the baseball, not glob the baseball with it, but put a little pine tar on their fingertips and give them a little better adherence to the baseball.' According to the New Yorker, MLB is exploring heavier or larger baseballs to slow pitchers' arm movements, potentially reducing strain on the UCL during maximum-effort pitches. Read more: Four major questions the Dodgers face in the second half of the season Meister, however, said there does not seem to be a sense of urgency to fix the game, with a years-long process to make any fixes. In short, Meister is ready to try anything. For a man who has made a career off baseball players nervously sitting in his office waiting room, awaiting news that could alter their careers forever, Meister wants MLB to help him stop players from ever scheduling that first appointment. 'To me, it's not about the surgery any more as much as it is, what can we do to prevent, and what can we do to alter, the approach that the game now takes?' Meister said. 'It's very, very dangerous.' Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
New mural at Dodger Stadium honors Fernando Valenzuela
Nine months after his death, Fernando Valenzuela stands immortalized in a new mural on the loge‑level wall at Dodger Stadium — a vibrant fusion of art and legacy unveiled Saturday. Painted by Mexican American artist Robert Vargas, the mural shows Valenzuela tipping his cap to the sky in a Dodgers Mexican‑heritage jersey — featuring a green sleeve, red sleeve, white center — alongside two striking images of Valenzuela in his pitching stance. Vargas said the mural is meant to symbolize unity within the Latino community. 'I felt it very important to show that the Latino community has a place within these walls and has had a place within these walls,' Vargas said. He wanted to reflect Valenzuela's spirit that still lives in the hearts of many fans and feature the man behind the player. 'What he did in the community, is what resonates so much more for me than just the player — but the man, the person that he was,' Vargas said. Valenzuela played for the Dodgers from 1980 to 1990. He grew up in Etchohuaquila, a small town in Mexico, and took Major League Baseball by storm in 1981, earning rookie of the year and Cy Young honors. Latino fans who previously felt little connection to the Dodgers were thrilled to see one of their own winning, sparking Fernandomania. Valenzuela wore No. 34 and it remains a popular jersey worn by fans at Dodger Stadium. Claudio Campo choked up as he gazed at the tribute. Traveling from Phoenix with his son to celebrate the boy's 11th birthday, Campo shared memories of a player whose greatness felt deeply personal. Valenzuela's nickname, "El Toro," are inked on Campo's left arm. 'He was a staple for the people that didn't have anything and then where he came from showed that anything is possible if you go ahead and revive what you are,' Claudio said. Read more: Plaschke: Fernando Valenzuela was the man who connected L.A. to the Dodgers Fans holding Valenzuela bobbleheads given away by the Dodgers took their pictures in front of the new mural Saturday night. Longtime fan Dulce Gonzalez held back emotion as she showed off her shirt with the name 'Valenzuela' written across it, describing the reason she started watching baseball. 'He was the first Latino player I could truly connect with and be proud of,' she said. For Gonzalez, Valenzuela's story resonated because he came from the same roots, offering representation she had longed for. 'We are a melting pot of races here, people love baseball from all races, but because I am Latina, I feel a little bit more connected," she said. Read more: Dodgers star Fernando Valenzuela, who changed MLB by sparking Fernandomania, dies at 63 Her son, Nicolas, dressed in a red and green Dodgers Mexican-heritage jersey, said Valenzuela helped heal some wounds after Mexican American families were displaced from their homes in Chavez Ravine shortly before Dodger Stadium was built on the same land. 'He really opened the city up to the Dodgers after a long difficult entry and he really represented triumph over adversity,' Nicolas said. Read more: Everybody wants to have a hero | 'Fernandomania @ 40' Ep. 1 Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Forbes
4 days ago
- Sport
- Forbes
Luis Robert Jr. Just May Become A Hot Trade Asset At The MLB Deadline
Luis Robert Jr. has all of the tools to be a great player. He just needs to stay healthy and make ... More more contact. (Photo by) Coming in the 2025 season, the Chicago White Sox, knowing that their prospects for success were nil, were hoping to have some trade assets at the deadline to help improve their long-term outlook. Chief among those was Luis Robert Jr. Robert Jr. is a specimen of a baseball player. At 6'2', 225 pounds of chiseled muscle, he has 70 grade speed (on the 20-80 scale), and 65 raw power. Watching him take batting practice at Dodger Stadium prior to the All-Star break, one could see why the White Sox locked him up with a 6-year, $50 million contract back in 2020. He has easy power, launching balls to the farthest reaches of the ballpark on swing after swing. After signing his contract, Robert Jr. started the 2020 season on the South Side of Chicago, Robert Jr. won a Gold Glove in center field and came in second in Rookie of Year voting. But then the injury bug started to bite, and bite hard. In 2021, he missed 68 games after suffering a complete tear of his right hip flexor. The oddity of this injury was that it happened as he ran to first base on a routine grounder. In 2022, a series of maladies (groin, Covid, blurred vision, and a wrist) limited him to 98 games. It all came together in 2023, when he played 145 games, slashed .264/.315/.542, with 38 home runs and 36 doubles, to go along with 20 stolen bases. He was an All-Star for the first time, won a Silver Slugger Award, and came in 12th in MVP voting. At that point, it seemed like a no-brainer that the White Sox would pick up the options for 2026 and 2027 at $20 million each. But then Robert Jr. began the 2024 season on the shelf with a right hip flexor strain. This caused him to miss almost the first two months. And when he came back, he was a shell of the player he was the season before. All of his offensive numbers dropped, except for stolen bases, which went from 20 to 23. For the season, he slashed .224/.278/.379, with just 14 home runs. Most concerningly, he struck out in just about one out of every three plate appearances (a career worst). Going in 2025, the ChiSox were hopeful that Robert Jr. would bounce back – 2023 style – and give them an appealing trade asset with two reasonable cost-controlled optional seasons available to a waiting suitor. But then Roberts slashed .170/.288/.310, with four home runs in his first 28 games. Things barely improved as the team headed to the All-Star break, as he stood at .190/.275/.325, with just nine home runs. Shockingly, he had 22 stolen bases, which was among the league leaders. In the first game coming out of the break, Robert Jr. had some flashes of brilliance that offer a glimmer of hope for the White Sox and potentially any team looking to improve their lineup by the end of July. Robert Jr. had an RBI-single in his first at-bat; made a dazzling diving catch in the third inning; then hit a 106 MPH, 413-foot home run to lead off the fourth. He added two walks to his ledger, and most importantly, did not strike out. There is still a lot of baseball to be played, and many more hurdles for Robert Jr. to clear (including avoiding another trip to the IL) before he is a viable AND valuable trade asset, but if he can keep this up for two more weeks, the White Sox just may get a pretty compelling offer for the oft-injured but quite-exciting center fielder.
NHK
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- NHK
Ohtani shares spotlight with pup in children's book
Major League Baseball star Ohtani Shohei's dog will be the protagonist in a picture book for children. The Japanese two-way player's dog, Dekopin, known as Decoy among US fans, drew attention after appearing in the first-pitch ceremony for a game at Dodger Stadium last season. Decoy gripped the ball in its mouth and delivered it from the pitcher's mound to Ohtani, serving as catcher behind the plate. Bobble-head dolls of Ohtani holding Decoy were distributed at the game. The picture book will be titled "Decoy Saves Opening Day." It tells the story of a dog tasked with the ceremonial first pitch for the opening game. But the animal leaves its favorite ball at home, then must struggle to make it in time for the event. Ohtani will be among the authors of the book. It will be released in February next year in eight countries including Japan.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Hernández: Secret to Yoshinobu Yamamoto's 2025 success? His hero-like effort in Game 5 of NLDS
Blue towels swirled around in every section of Dodger Stadium as his entrance song started to play. Yoshinobu Yamamoto stepped on the mound and into the chaos wearing a mask of calm. His appearance was misleading. Inside, he was terrified. 'I think that was the game for which I was the most nervous in my entire baseball career,' Yamamoto said in Japanese. Yamamoto can laugh now about his memories of Game 5 of the National League Division Series against the San Diego Padres last season, knowing what was revealed on that October night and the path on which it set him. Read more: Shaikin: How to revitalize baseball's All-Star Game? Bat flips He started that game as an unknown, even to himself. He departed a hero. By the end of the month, he was a World Series champion. The momentum he gained in the playoffs carried into this season, which explains why the 26-year-old right-hander was at the All-Star Game in Atlanta earlier this week reliving what might have been the most consequential start of his career. The Dodgers will return from the All-Star break on Friday with Yamamoto as the only dependable arm in their billion-dollar rotation, and his newfound status as one of the best pitchers in baseball makes him their likely Game 1 starter when they open the postseason. 'He's just to the point where he knows he's a really good pitcher, he's an All-Star and he has high expectations for himself,' manager Dave Roberts said. The sense of stability that Yamamoto provides was something the Dodgers couldn't have dreamed of in his up-and-down rookie season last year. Yamamoto encountered difficulties that were unknown to him as a three-time Pacific League most valuable player with Japan's Orix Buffaloes, missing three months with shoulder problems. Even when he pitched, he performed inconsistently, and in Game 1 of the NLDS against the Padres, he gave up five runs in only three innings. 'The more I failed, the more it felt like things were piling up,' Yamamoto said. With a two-games-to-one deficit in the series, the Dodgers managed to win Game 4 in San Diego to set up a winner-take-all Game 5 in Los Angeles. Yamamoto was assigned to start the deciding game. Yamamoto had difficulty sleeping the night before his start. When he tried to think of anything other than the game, he couldn't. He felt the weight of his 10-year, $325-million contract, which was the most lucrative deal signed by any pitcher from any country. He was also pitching opposite Yu Darvish, making this the first postseason game featuring two Japanese starting pitchers. His worst fears were never realized. He pitched five scoreless innings in a 2-0 victory, delivering a performance that changed how everyone viewed him — the fans, the team, even himself. 'Being able to contain them there,' Yamamoto said, 'became a source of confidence.' Yamamoto downplayed his psychological fortitude that was required to regroup in the wake of his Game 1 calamity, describing his turnaround as a function of his ability to identify problems and remedy them. 'I'm by no means strong mentally,' he said. 'When I get hit, there are times I get really down. But as time passes, things clear up. What I have to do becomes clear.' Between the two NLDS starts, for example, Yamamoto adjusted the positioning of his glove, which the Dodgers believed revealed in Game 1 which pitches he was about to throw. His celebration, however, was short-lived. 'I felt like I cleared a mountain,' Yamamoto said. 'But there was no time to relax before the next game started.' Yamamoto started twice more in the playoffs, in Game 4 of the NL Championship Series against the New York Mets and Game 2 of the World Series against the New York Yankees. He gave up a combined three runs in a combined 10 ⅔ innings over the two games, both of which the Dodgers won. 'I think it was a really valuable experience,' he said. 'Because of what I experienced, along with the advances I made from a technical standpoint, I think I was able to grow.' Read more: 'Put a 'W' next to Dino's name.' NL wins All-Star Game swing-off, with help from Dino Ebel He also drew from the unpleasant times, particularly the three months he was sidelined with a strained rotator cuff. 'I spent the time determined to grow from that,' he said. 'I don't want to forget how frustrated I was.' The experiences gave him a baseline of knowledge he could take into his second season. As a rookie, he had reported to camp without any expectations. 'I didn't know what my ability was relative to everyone else's,' he said. 'I lacked a basic understanding of, 'If I do this, it will work, or if I do that, it won't.' So I wasn't thinking I'd be successful and I wasn't thinking I wouldn't be either. I really didn't know.' This spring training, he knew. He knew he could succeed. He also knew what he was up against. Standing a modest 5-foot-10, Yamamoto was struck as a rookie by the imposing physical frames of the other players. 'More than that, when you get to the ballpark, for example, Mookie [Betts] will be finishing up hitting drenched in sweat ,' he said. ' I was surprised by the amount of training, that players weren't just relying on their talent. It was a little shocking.' Recognizing that he lost weight over the course of last season, Yamamoto was determined to report to spring training this year with a stronger body. He also benefited from increased comfort with low-quality American baseballs and the pitch clock. He purchased a home, the off-field stability permitting him to focus more on his work. Pitching once a week as he did in Japan, Yamamoto was 4-2 with a 0.90 earned-run average in his first seven starts of this season. He started pitching on five-days' rest after that, and he wasn't nearly as dominant. He initially struggled pitching on a shorter cycle, but he said the causes of that were disruptions to his between-starts routine rather than anything fatigue-related. 'I think there is absolutely no problem with that,' he said. 'You pitch on six days' rest in Japan, but you throw 120, 130 pitches in seven or eight innings. That was tough. You have one less day to recover here, but you're also throwing fewer pitches, so you don't feel the fatigue that much. 'There are things that come up in between starts. For example, there could be two flights or you could arrive in a city in the middle of the night and have to pitch the next day. You won't be able to spend every five-day period the same way.' Yamamoto said he learned to better maximize his time between starts, which he pointed to as the reason he was able to regain his form leading up to the All-Star break. In his penultimate appearance before the intermission, he didn't make it out of the first inning and was charged with five runs, three of them earned. But in two of his last four starts, he didn't give up any runs. In another, he yielded just one. In fact, Yamamoto said that if the team asks, he thinks he could pitch on four days' rest. 'This year, my body has recovered really well,' he said. 'I often check with the trainers after the game, and we talk about how if it's like this, I could throw in four days, or how if I feel like that, I might be a little later. We go through different scenarios like that every week. I still haven't started on four days' rest, but I think my preparation to do that has gone well.' Yamamoto enters the final 2 ½ months of the regular season not only as the Dodgers' leader in wins (eight) but also games started (19) and innings pitched (104 ⅓). His increased comfort has extended into the clubhouse. He forged a somewhat unlikely friendship with South Korean Hyeseong Kim, the two of them often conversing on the bench during games. Read more: 'It was awesome.' Clayton Kershaw is the All-Star among All-Stars as NL defeats AL 'We speak to each other in broken English,' Yamamoto said with a chuckle. 'I really like Korean food, so he teaches me about that. There are differences between Korean and Japanese baseball, and the major leagues are a little different too, so stuff like that. They aren't deep conversations, but I think it's important to communicate, so we talk a lot.' Yamamoto has also developed a particularly strong admiration of Clayton Kershaw. 'In him, you have a player on the team whom you can model yourself after,' Yamamoto said. 'I also learn a lot watching him pitch. He's someone you can admire in every aspect. All of my teammates think of him like that too. That's the kind of player I would like to be.' The kind of player who could be counted on to take his turn in the rotation. The kind of player who can deliver for his team in big moments. Yamamoto is on his way. Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
