Guardians ace's devastating injury continues troubling MLB trend

On April 4, Eury Pérez became the second Marlins starting pitcher to be lost for the season because of Tommy John surgery, following 2022 NL Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara, who had the operation in October.

Red Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito received the surgery in March, while Rays pitcher Shane McClanahan and Rangers pitcher Jacob deGrom underwent theirs last year and won't be available until later this season.

Data suggests the largest culprit in the number of UCL injuries isn't the pitch clock, implemented in 2023, but rather the league's growing emphasis on velocity.

Per Baseball America, the average four-seam fastball has increased from 91.9 miles per hour in 2008 to 94.2 miles per hour in 2023.

Tom Verducci reported for Sports Illustrated last May that 100-mile-per-hour pitches increased from 1,056 in 2019 to a whopping 3,348 in 2022. Verducci succinctly said, "Not coincidentally, as velocity goes, so do injuries."

While the uptick in pitching velocity has made hitting more difficult, the same can't be said for run production.

Batters hit .265 on average in 2008, and teams scored an average of 4.65 runs per game, according to Baseball Reference. Last season, hitters had a .248 batting average but produced 4.62 runs per game.

Not only is the way teams use pitchers unsustainable but its impact on scoring is limited.

Maybe one day, teams will wake up and see the damage being done to pitchers far outweighs the on-field rewards.