According to The Baseball Injury Report (TBIR), there are 30% more players starting this season on the disabled list than there were last season. Some people are blaming the cold weather in the northeast as a reason for many of these injuries, but the real reason for the injury bug is that baseball players are training incorrectly.
According to the numbers reported by TBIR there were 108 players on the DL as the 2007 season started, up from the 75 DLers at the beginning of last season. And while the number of DL residents remained pretty steady from 2002-2006, the nature of the injuries experienced by players during this time point out that many ballplayers are not being properly prepared for the rigors of their sport.
The injury list of the 2007 New York Yankees serves as a great example of guys who have trained improperly. This is not to say that the Yankees’ team strength and conditioning staff is totally to blame - as players workout with their own trainers during the off-season - but that there is a systematic problem with the way professional baseball players are being conditioned.
So far this season the Yanks have had two starters suffer pretty severe hamstring injuries. Pitcher Chien-Ming Wang blew out a hamstring while running sprints in spring training and outfielder Hideki Matsui pulled a hammy running the bases last week. Wang as been out of action for about three weeks and is still rehabbing his injury. Reportedly Wang came into spring training with an injured hammy. If this is so, the situation illustrates why teams need to have more say in what their players do during the off-season.
Lower body injuries can be nightmarish for pitchers. If Wang’s hamstring was a problem before spring training there is the possibility that this condition could become chronic and possibly affect his delivery, and ultimately his arm. If you look at the injury histories of Mike Hampton, Mark Prior and Kerry Wood, their long roads of injury and stints on the disabled lists started with leg injuries. Hampton had groin surgery after the 2001 season, Prior’s extensive injury woes started with an Achilles problem in spring training of 2004 and Wood’s woes began in 2003 also with his Achilles.
Article comments
1 - grg
Any thoughts on PEDs contributing to the injuries?
2 - sal m
Unfortunately in this day and age PEDs are always related to the injury rate, both directly and indirectly.
3 - Tan The Man
Apparently the new Yankees' training regimen de-emphasizes running. Sound smart?
4 - sal m
it depends what kinds of running they are deemphasizing...if they aren't sprinting, they are going to suffer injuries and not be in shape. if they are distance running, they are still not going to be in shape to play baseball.
i'd like to see the details of what their running program is.
5 - Tan The Man
Yeah, I would to. But either way, running is probably the easiest way to get in shape.
6 - Tan The Man
Check that.... "simplest"
7 - sal m
again, depends on what kind of running that they are doing. there's no reason for any athletes - except distance runners - to distance run.