5 Reasons High School Pitchers Are Getting Injured More Than Ever

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What's destroying young pitchers' arms across America? The answer might be right there on the radar gun. 

In this eye-opening episode, Coach Ken Carpenter tackles the alarming rise in serious arm injuries among youth and high school pitchers. Drawing from conversations with experts like Dr. Tom House and his own 27 years of coaching experience, Ken explores how the relentless pursuit of velocity—"chasing 90"—combined with year-round pitching schedules and early sport specialization is creating an epidemic of torn UCLs and Tommy John surgeries in teenagers.

Remember when kids threw footballs, rocks, and wiffle balls in the backyard? When baseball ended in summer, making way for football and basketball seasons? That natural athletic versatility created what Dr. House calls "neuroplasticity"—more neural pathways between brain and muscles that developed more complete, durable athletes. Today's young pitchers are missing that foundation, instead throwing max effort at showcases year-round without adequate rest or varied movement patterns.

The statistics are sobering: over 50% of Tommy John surgeries now happen to teenagers. As Coach Carpenter's pitching coach once said, "there's only so many bullets available to a pitcher," and today's young athletes are using them up before college. This episode challenges coaches, parents and players to reconsider their priorities: developing pitchers who can locate, change speeds, and maintain durability rather than just lighting up radar guns. After all, what good is throwing 90 mph in high school if your arm breaks down at 19?

Want to share your coaching perspective or story? Visit athlete1.net to request to be a guest on Baseball Coaches Unplugged and join the conversation about protecting young arms and the future of baseball.

Join the Baseball Coaches Unplugged podcast where an experienced baseball coach delves into the world of high school and travel baseball, offering insights on high school baseball coaching, leadership skills, hitting skills, pitching strategy, defensive skills, and overall baseball strategy, while also covering high school and college baseball, recruiting tips, youth and travel baseball, and fostering a winning mentality and attitude in baseball players through strong baseball leadership and mentality.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
ask any coach, at any level would you rather have a
pitcher that throws 90 miles anhour but you're not sure if he's
going to be consistent andthrow strikes?
Or would you rather have apitcher that throws in the 80s,
gets out, throw strikes, mixesup speeds and changes locations,

(00:22):
chasing 90 and why?
I think it's possibly hurtingthe game of baseball?
Next on Baseball CoachesUnplugged.

Speaker 2 (00:34):
Welcome to Baseball Coaches Unplugged with Coach Ken
Carpenter, presented byAthleteOne.
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(02:42):
AthleteOnePodcast.
Hello and welcome back toBaseball Coaches Unplugged.
I'm your host, coach KenCarpenter.
Today I'm going to talk aboutsomething that's become way too
common and way too accepted inthe world of youth and high
school baseball arm injuries,not just the occasional sore

(03:05):
shoulder, but the seriousbreakdowns, torn UCLs, tommy
John surgeries, kids who were 15, 16, 17 years old high school
players.
And why is this happening?
Simple, they're chasing 90,pitching year-round without
significant breaks and playingone sport only and that's

(03:27):
baseball.
I was recently reading a greatpiece that featured some wisdom
from Dr Tom House, former bigleague pitching coach,
researcher, performancepsychologist, and the one thing
he said that really stuck withme our kids today are pitching
too much and not throwing enough.

(03:50):
Let that sink in Not throwingenough.
Let that sink in Not throwingenough.
We've got kids pitching off amound year round, using the
exact same motion over and overagain.
They're specializing inbaseball.
Earlier and earlier.
They're chasing velocity likeit's a badge of honor.
And if they're doing it allwithout taking the time to let

(04:14):
their arms and brains rest.
I had Chris Jones who was mypitching coach and he pitched
for Ohio State University and hemade it as high as AAA with the
Dodgers and he always told methere's only so many bullets
available to a pitcher and thisreally sinks in.

(04:39):
Some of you listening mightremember this, especially the
older guys.
When we were kids we would throwall the time, but we didn't
just throw baseballs.
We threw footballs, rocks,tennis balls, wiffle balls.
We made up games in thebackyard, we threw from

(05:03):
different arm angles ondifferent surfaces in every kind
of weather, and you know whatelse we did.
We stopped playing baseballwhen the summer ended.
Once fall hit, we moved on tofootball.
Winter it was basketball orwrestling.
We weren't playing 70-game fallschedules or flying across the
country every other weekend toshowcase our arms.
Our bodies and our arms had achance to rest and, more

(05:26):
importantly, they had a chanceto develop.
Now contrast that with whatwe're seeing today.
've got a 14 year old kid on atravel team that never takes a
break.
He's throwing max effort inevery showcase, chasing 85 on a
radar gun because he thinksthat's going to be his ticket to

(05:47):
college baseball.
He's doing weighted ballprograms without supervision.
He's pitching in February, thenin June and then again in
October, and we wonder why theinjuries are skyrocketing.
Tom House talks about somethingcalled neuroplasticity that

(06:10):
idea that the playing othersports actually trains the brain
and the body to be better andmore adaptable athletes.
He says the more nerves youhave talking to muscles on the
shelves that you can call on inyour brain, the longer and
better athlete you're going tobe.

(06:31):
That's why guys like Tom Glavin, who played both hockey and
baseball, had such a longsuccessful career.
He built more complete athleticfoundation and it showed the
guy won over 300 games in thebig leagues, and he never needed
to throw 98 miles an hour to doit.

(06:53):
Look, I get it.
Velocity is sexy, and how areyou going to go from high school
to college if you're notthrowing high 80s to low 90s?
It's tough to get on a collegeroster.
But what good is 90 miles perhour in high school If the arm

(07:14):
breaks down at 19,?
More than 50% of Tommy Johnsurgeries are happening to
teenagers, and if you live inthe South, where the weather is
warm for the most part of theyear, your chances are
increasing because you'regetting out there and you're
pitching, because baseball's awarm weather sport.

(07:37):
We need to start askingourselves what's the long game?
Do we want our players to peakat 17, or do we want to give
them a foundation that laststhrough high school and college
and maybe even to the next level?
That foundation includes rest.
It includes playing othersports.
It includes letting kids beathletes, not just pitchers, and

(08:03):
as coaches, you've got to leadthe charge.
That means managing pitchcounts, yes, but also managing
seasons giving guys time offfrom throwing, creating off-se
seasons that are truly aboutstrength, movement and
flexibility, not maxing out pulldowns in a hoodie.

(08:23):
It means teaching young playershow to compete without always
chasing velocity.
Can you locate your pitches,can you change speeds?
Can you pitch deep into thegames?
Because you're built withdurability and not just power
Got to be able to throw strikes.

(08:44):
I'll leave you with one lastthought from Tom House.
Mix it up the guys who made itHouse, glavin and so many others
.
They didn't get there bythrowing the same pitch the same
way all year long.
They got there by beingcreative, adaptable and athletic
.
Let's raise a generation ofpitchers who aren't just

(09:05):
throwing harder but throwingsmarter.
Let's protect their arms, theirfutures and the games that we
all love.
Thanks for tuning in toBaseball Coaches Unplugged.
If this episode hits home foryou, or if you're a coach and
you've got a story, check outour website at athlete1.net

(09:26):
that's athlete, the number onedot net and request to be a
guest.
I'd love to hear your take onthe game of baseball.
Until next time, take care ofyour players and take care of
the game.
Baseball Coaches Unplugged isproud to be partnered with the
netting professionals, improvingprograms one facility at a time
.
Contact them today at844-620-2707 or visit them

(09:51):
online at wwwnettingproscom.
As always, I'm your host, coachKen Carpenter, and thanks for
listening to Baseball CoachesUnplugged.