One or the Other

In his weekly diary column last week in The Athletic, Joe Posnanski suggested shrinking the MLB regular season to 100 games. That would definitely change things, “But would the game be better? It’s an interesting thought experiment,” one that led Posnanski to believe, “Everybody might stay healthier.” Or not, because in yesterday’s NYT, James Wagner wrote on the explosion of injuries in baseball so far this season. According to Wagner, injuries from spring training through May have increased 31 percent for MLB players from 2019 to 2021. Wagner talked to a lot of people who think it’s a combination of going from 60 games in 2020 back to 162 this year along with factors unique to baseball. This is how Gary McCoy, a former minor league strength coach put it, that “baseball is the most asymmetrical sport on the planet; if you’re a left-handed hitting and left-handed throwing outfielder, you turn right for nothing.” (With the reverse holding for right-handers.) On top of that is what Wagner calls the “explosive actions” that define baseball—“firing a pitch, unleashing a swing, bursting out of the batter’s box.” Put it all together, and you have a recipe for injury. But is the same thing happening in the minors? So far, I haven’t heard anything. Jake Burger would seem to be the perfect test case. Taken by the White Sox in the first round of the 2017 draft, Burger twice ruptured his left Achilles in 2018; that was followed by a heel injury in 2019. Burger didn’t start playing again until last summer. And now? He’s starting at third base for Triple-A Charlotte, batting .276 with six homeruns and seventeen RBIs. So, how does Burger fit into the injury outbreak? My guess is we’re going to have to wait until midway through next season to get a sense of what’s happening. If injuries go down, then it’s connected to that 60-game season. If the injury rate persists, blame it on some combination of how baseball treats conditioning and the guiding philosophy that now holds sway over the game. Bigger and stronger and asymmetrical may lead—inevitably, no matter what precautions are taken—to the IL.