Happy Monday. Today I want to write
something different. Because of the injury of Alex Cobb, it seems reasonable to
talk about pitchers and protective equipment for them.
Two days ago, Rays pitcher Alex
Cobb was struck in the head on a line drive by Royals first baseman Eric
Hosmer. They found that he was struck in the ear, and he was immediately taken
to the hospital. News came out today saying that Cobb was released from the
hospital this morning.
Cobb was pitching the best for the
Rays, too. His ERA moved to 3.01 after his last game, but it has been sub 3 for
the entire season. He’s 6-2 with a 2.2 WAR and a 8.2 K/9 ratio. He’s also very
young; he’s 25 years old and this is his 3rd season in the Major
Leagues.
Here is a video of the injury.
Viewer discretion is advised.
The reason for protective equipment
for pitcher being brought up is not because of Cobb, though. It definitely is
going to be brought up again, though. Earlier in the year, Blue Jays pitcher
J.A. Happ was struck in the head on a line drive, and suffered a skull
fracture. That happened in early May, and he’s still out. Last year, Brandon
McCarthy was struck in the head last year, and was sided out. Last week,
McCarthy suffered a seizure related to last season’s head injury. In game 2 of
last year’s world series, Tigers pitcher Doug Fister was struck in the head,
but escaped from any injury.
When will it be time for pitchers
to start wearing protective equipment to avoid injury? Or anyone in the field
for that matter. In 2007, 1st base coach Mike Coolbaugh for a minor
league team was hit by a line drive and died on contact. There will continue to
be injuries, so why haven’t they made anything already?
Well, they have. Scientists and engineers have tried everything
to work with safety products, but they have not found a solution yet. Recent
work have tried padding sewn in their caps, but after trying to pitch, pitchers
found that the padding still affected how they pitched. They’ve tried masks,
protective helmets, everything. Nothing has been a solution.
Dr. Gary Green, a physician and professor of sports medicine at UCLA has noticed that hard throwing pitcher put more torque on their bodies, to add force to the pitch and increase velocity. As a result, pitchers are off balance when the ball is hit, and it’s harder to field the ball. Green also says that if pitchers wore helmets, they would just shake it off their heads because pitchers move their heads so much compared to batters.
Remember, there is a small chance
of a pitcher getting struck by a pitch. It’s not like it happens every day. But
one line drive to the head is too many in my opinion.
I still think that there will be a
solution in the next five years. Things are being done, but I wish it could be
sooner.
Email me at statsbuddy42@gmail.com for any
questions/comments/concerns.
-Evan Boyd
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