Baseball Injuries: Case Studies, by Type, in the Major Leagues

In baseball, injuries to players fall into two main categories: overuse and traumatic. Over 162 games, repetitive pitching and batting motions and the stress of base running can damage joints, bones, and soft tissues, making overuse injuries the most common. Traumatic injuries like beanings, sliding injuries, and concussions, while less frequent, add to the DL list each year. This work explores the various types of injuries in baseball and provides case studies of individual player injuries to demonstrate the cause of injuries, the different treatment options, and the effect of injuries on a player’s career. Throughout, discussions show the link between injuries and innovations in the game, like the batting helmet and padded outfield walls, and innovations in medicine, such as Tommy John surgery.