With All The 100 Mph Pitchers, How Long Will The Arms Last?

By JANIE McCAULEY, AP Baseball Writer, San Antonio Express-News: World
Thu, 03/30/2017 - 7:30am

With all those 100 mph fastballs flying through the strike zone these days from Aroldis Chapman, Noah Syndergaard and others, flame-throwers are the norm rather than the exception — in rotations and bullpens alike. The pitching is amazing, said Canseco, an ex-slugger 16 years removed from his last big league game. Last season alone, 31 different pitchers hit 100 mph at least once, while Chapman threw 538 of his 972 pitches for the New York Yankees and Chicago Cubs— a jaw-dropping, swinging-and-missing 55.35 percent — at 100 mph or more, according to Major League Baseball's Advanced Media Statcast system. "If you can command and throw hard, I think it's one of the most exciting things in the game," said Goose Gossage, a 22-year big league pitcher who was a Yankees guest instructor this spring. There were 18 Tommy John surgeries last year for players on 25-man major league rosters, down from a high of 36 elbow ligament replacements in 2012, according to Baseball Heat Maps. No doubt velocity has gone up for starters and relievers, said Stan Conte, former Giants and Dodgers head athletic trainer turned consultant. Oakland closer Sean Doolittle and others in the bullpen with him are often awe-struck that hitters even put the ball in play given the pitches they are seeing — or, not seeing. There are sometimes when we're sitting in the bullpen and we look up at the radar gun and we're like, 'How did he hit that?' The velocity honeymoon is on and may not go away as long as it has a relationship with command, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle. [...] if you must cheat, or start earlier to swing, you make yourself susceptible to spin and off-speed.

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