2.5.3: Performance After Surgery in Baseball Players
- Page ID
- 58599
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)In the world of Major League Baseball (MLB), pitchers are some of the most valuable members of a team, with their salaries being some of the highest in the league. Pitching can be difficult on the body, particularly the throwing arm, and it is not uncommon for some players to require surgery during their career. Of course, one of the major concerns of both the athlete and their organization, is whether the player can return to their previous level of performance after such a surgery. A recent study considered this question for pitchers who had received ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) surgery (Mastroianni et al. 2025).
The study considered 129 MLB pitchers who suffered UCL injuries and had primary UCL reconstruction or repair between November 2017 and November 2023. The performance after these surgeries was calculated in November 2024 for all pitchers who had at least two seasons of 100 pitches or more after their surgery. This resulted in 58 pitchers who were used for the study. The researchers gathered information about the body characteristics, game statistics, and pitch characteristics.
The results of the study are voluminous and somewhat complicated, but several broad trends were identified by the researchers, a couple of which will be highlighted here. Looking at the change of a statistic that measures how valuable a pitcher is to a team, the researchers concluded that a little fewer than half of the pitchers provided the same value to teams three seasons after surgery even though these players should be fully recovered from the surgery. When considering the physical characteristics of their pitches, it was observed that these characteristics improved each season over the three post-operative seasons observed and that at least 75% of the players returned to pre-injury performance after three seasons.
This is a study based on empiricism and the scientific method. The researchers hypothesized that the injury and surgery combination would influence the value of the pitchers to the team, and this was empirically observed in the data. The researchers point out that there are many limitations to this study. Primarily, some of the observed effects were quite small, so that even though a difference was observed, it was not clear that the difference would have a practical effect. Furthermore, the researchers used statistical definitions to determine the effectiveness of a pitcher. The value of a player to a team is a complicated and abstract concept that could be defined and measured in many ways.
In terms of the use of the scientific method, this study is based on the idea of induction and the uniformity of nature. The results were observed for a specific set of individuals who were involved in the study. The usefulness of the results would be to conclude that this trend would apply to other populations of players who experience the same set of circumstances. This conclusion is complicated, particularly since the nature of the position of pitcher in baseball and the technology used in medical interventions is always changing. If this study were done again a decade later, the results could be different.