Baseball’s Achilles: When Velocity Becomes a Curse

The sport cherishes its past but sacrifices its future, especially with pitching. 

And nowhere is that tragedy more evident than in the announcement this week: Corbin Burnes, former Cy Young winner and Brewers ace, is facing Tommy John surgery.

The league will say it’s part of the game. 

Injuries happen. 

Pitchers break. 

But that’s a lie of omission. What’s happening is not random. It’s systemic. MLB is addicted to speed, obsessed with high-velocity arms, and utterly indifferent to the human beings attached to them.

We’re living in the age of the radar gun gods. 

And their followers keep falling.

The Pitcher's Achilles

In his epics, Homer's Achilles was then what the 80s muscle-bound action stars were: a most feared warrior. Unlike in the movies, Achilles had one single weakness: his heel. 

A single arrow strike reduced him to a mere mortal.

In baseball, the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) is a pitcher's Achilles heel. Something so small with such a significant impact in terms of careers, franchises, and legend.

The fierce competitiveness of athletes becomes easy prey for baseball scouts, promising huge bonuses in exchange for pushing themselves to nearly inhuman limits with hopes of reaching 100 mph fastballs.

Using technology that examines the slightest deviation, a pitcher continually pushes himself a little bit more every day. 

Then, more often than not, the UCL snaps.

2021 Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes is the latest addition to a list no pitcher wants to be added to. With the nastiest cutter in baseball, he went through lineups, sawing bats like a chainsaw.

Although he consistently threw in the high 90s, his command and composure made him one of the best for several years.

However, the system is against him; it does not matter whether he desires to compete or the toll it takes on his body. 

MLB pays for nothing but maximum effort. 

Always.

And that list becomes tragically longer each season.

Baseball's Fallen

Burnes' story isn't just a single example. 

Here's a list of recent players who showed exemplary talent and drive but live in the eternal question of "what if?"

Mark Prior entered the league with the promise of greatness based on his performance at USC. He was done before age 26.

Kerry Wood pitched perhaps the greatest game ever pitched when he limited the Houston Astros to a single hit while striking out 20. He spent a great deal more time on the disabled list than on the mound.

Stephen Strasburg entered the league with so much fanfare that he was a sure-fire Hall of Famer before he even took the mound. Dominant while active, his body broke down, spending a great deal of time on a surgeon's table, repairing one injury after another.

Chris Sale doesn't look like an elite pitcher. He dominated the American League with a whip-like arm from the left side. He missed a few years recovering and rehabbing and has rekindled his career in Atlanta.

This list would be remiss without mentioning Jacob deGrom. deGrom didn't just win; he dominated while pitching for a substandard Mets team. He signed a free agent contract with the Texas Rangers, sitting out time rehabbing, but started his comeback with early success.

I wish these few names were a rarity. 

Unfortunately, it's become all too common.

The Need for Speed

Every scout chases the dream of finding the next Nolan Ryan. That dream arm was loaded with lightning. 

If a high school coach recognized that one of his athletes had potential, then that kid was exposed to specialized training to push his body to its limits, reaching a stage that few ever achieve.

But at what cost?

Over half of all UCL surgical repairs are performed on 15- to 19-year-olds. Many major league pitchers have undergone multiple UCL repairs. 

On one hand, the new ligament provides a new elbow, but one with a time limit.

These injuries have become so common that unless you're a marquee name, the injury becomes a line item on a team's website.

The Story of Sandy Koufax

Mention the name Sandy Koufax to Dodger fans, and you'd expect to see the Sign of the Cross in response.

During the 1950s and '60s, before modern medicine and technology, there were no such terms as spin rate, pitch clocks, and, most importantly, pitch counts.

Although his UCL didn't tear, his career was cut short in his prime by arthritis. 

Despite constant icing, his elbow locked up, increasing his pain.

If Koufax pitched today, technology would track everything he did from every angle, resulting in specialized throwing programs to maximize his talent.

Speed Didn't Matter

One name isn't famous, but he suffered a torn elbow and lived to pitch another day. Frank Tanana threw heat. 

Serious heat. 

And as this story goes, he blew his elbow out.

Although he never had elbow surgery, Tanana worked his way back to a 21-year career.

Tommy John was never known as a fireballer; he relied on movement, control, and a very good sinker. 

Unfortunately for him, his UCL gave out. Los Angeles orthopedic surgeon Dr. Frank Jobe performed the procedure that ignominiously bears his name. 

At the time, Dr. Jobe gave John a 1% chance of success. John beat the odds and pitched for 26 seasons.

In today's game, a pitcher reinventing his repertoire is rare because teams don't wait. 

They simply move on to the next arm.

Who is at Fault?

Knowing their career could end with a single pitch, they hold nothing back. 

That lack of fear pushes them further than their body allows.

In one line in his book Ball Four, Jim Bouton illustrated the competitiveness of the athlete:

“If you had a pill that would guarantee a pitcher 20 wins but might take five years off his life, he'd take it.”

This mindset, captured decades ago, remains unchanged. It doesn't matter what happens to the player's body; regardless of personal cost, the need for speed is overwhelming.

If you don't pitch, you don't get paid. 

If you don't light the radar up, you don't receive record contracts. 

But why?

Owners and general managers are well aware of the risks. Yet they encourage this meat grinder because there will always be another young pitcher with the grand stage as his goal.

Baseball Could Do Better

It's a slow process, but baseball does evolve, albeit reluctantly.

It took over 70 years for the sport to integrate.

It was slowly forced to stop treating its players as commodities. Marvin Miller's efforts led to the formation of one of the most successful players' unions in professional sports.

There has to be a line in the sand when either the owners or players realize they've taken things too far.

Although sports medicine has improved, it isn't perfect. There has to be a change in attitude. 

Front offices and players' unions need to prioritize long-term health care.

It took the NFL decades before it paid attention to the effects of concussions. To its credit, they've taken steps to protect players by using specialized helmets.

MLB needs to remove its passion for the radar gun and respect its pitchers.

Final Pitch

Achieving levels few attain comes with a price. Spin rates and velocities invariably lead to time on disabled lists, leading to the question we've always asked: What if?

The true unicorn in baseball is Nolan Ryan. He pitched for 27 seasons. He just didn't hang on, either. He became theoldest pitcher to lead the league in strikeouts and record over 300 strikeouts in a season.

Conservative estimates put Ryan's career pitch count over 100,000! 

But it was his last pitch that mattered: his elbow finally gave out.

Nolan was one of a kind.

The story of Corbin Burns, and even Shohei Ohtani, isn't the latest. Odds are, great pitchers will end up tearing their UCL this season.

Major League Baseball needs to recognize its Achilles' Heel before it's too late. 

It may take the noise of the fans to make the change; they want to see the best on the field, not in the dugout.