Baseball has a problem with pitchers

Remembering Curt Gowdy

Good morning, all. I hope your week is off to a terrific start, certainly better than the start of the season for some MLB pitchers.

The headlines less than two weeks into the baseball season are disturbing for some pitchers, so much so the MLBPA is speaking out. Just in the last few days, we have learned Shane Bieber, pitching ace of the Cleveland Guardians, will require Tommy John surgery. Atlanta Braves ace Spencer Strider will be out for a considerable time, after it was revealed he has ulnar collateral ligament damage. A damaged UCL usually means TJ surgery, although not always. New York Yankees pitcher Jonathan Loaisiga will miss 10 to 12 months with a torn UCL. Yankees pitching ace Gerrit Cole is sidelined until at least June with UCL issues. The list, it seems, is endless.

On Saturday, the MLBPA, which has its own leadership problems, issued a statement suggesting the shorter time allotted pitchers in between pitches is leading to the increase in these types of injuries. MLB fired back, claiming there is no “empirical evidence” the pitch clock has contributed to the injuries. It states the issue of increased elbow injuries has been building long before the pitch clock was instituted and points to a study by Johns Hopkins to back up its premise.

In 2023 the pitch clock was employed to shave time off games that were extending beyond three hours. With no runners on base pitchers had 15 seconds to deliver a pitch and 20 seconds with runners on base. This season the rule was changed to 18 seconds with runners on base, even though the MLBPA opposed the change.

MLB officials claim the increased use of the fastball combined with higher spin rates is contributing to the injuries and not the pitch clock. It will be interesting on how this ends, but my hunch is nothing is going to change.

Meanwhile, the Boston Red Sox are attempting a new approach, under new pitching coach Andrew Bailey. Red Sox pitchers have been told to throw more curve balls, a pitch which can also damage elbows. At the minor league levels, where teams now play a six-game series Tuesday through Sunday, the Sox have imposed a six-man starting rotation. If their approach is successful, expect other clubs to follow suit.

Trevor Story cannot catch a break

Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story cannot catch a break, when it comes to his playing career. Signed by the Red Sox as a free agent, Story has been sidelined for most of the first two years of his contract with injuries. Entering 2024, he appeared to finally be in good health, that was until the fourth inning of the seventh game of the season Friday night against the Angels in Anaheim. Trying to make a diving catch across his body, Story came down on his left shoulder dislocating it. Boston placed him on the 10-day IL, but he is expected to be out much longer.

I first met Story, when he was playing shortstop for the New Britain Rock Cats in 2015, the final season that city hosted an affiliated pro baseball club, before the Colorado Rockies farm team moved to Hartford. In fact he surprisingly survived a collision with outfielder David Dahl at New Britain Stadium, when the two smashed into each other going after a shallow pop-up. Story stayed in the game, but Dahl was hospitalized, eventually having his spleen removed.

Story has always been an inspiration to his teammates with his approach to the game. The only break he really needs is to stay healthy. Here is hoping he is not sidelined that long.

Recalling Curt Gowdy

Curt Gowdy was a legendary sportscaster, who became the “Voice of the Boston Red Sox,” and also broadcast numerous World Series, Super Bowls and other sporting events on network television in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1994 I interviewed Gowdy about a book he had written. Here is that interview. Enjoy!

Bring on the Masters

Professional golf needs a television ratings boost and is hoping this week’s Masters tournament in Augusta, GA provides it. The historic tournament, which is not affiliated with the PGA Tour, will bring the sport’s warring factions, PGA players and LIV Golf players together. The battle between these two entities has placed golf’s ratings in the toilet.

Before the Saudi-backed LIV tour emerged, golf was a steady ratings winner for the networks, steadily attracting more than 3 million viewers on a Saturday and Sunday for the non-major events and larger numbers for the majors.

Now many of golf’s big stars - think Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson, etc. - have jumped to LIV, whose ratings and different tournament format cannot even gain one million viewers. The PGA Tour TV ratings have dropped to under two million viewers per telecast. Networks, which have paid huge rights fees to cover these events, and sponsors are taking notice. The number of viewers for this week’s big tournament will be dissected by the powers-that-be and could have a major impact on whether peace between the two factions is hastened.

That is going to do it for this week’s newsletter. As always, thank you for your support and have a terrific week.

Dan Lovallo

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