Preventing Tommy John Surgery: The Identification of Trends in Pitch Selection, Velocity, and Spin Rate Before Ulnar Collateral Ligament Reconstruction in Major League Baseball Pitchers

The study results suggest that there is a patterned change in certain pitch statistics in MLB pitchers in the games leading up to Tommy John surgery. Although the absolute change from game to game may be small, it may be possible for these trends to be monitored before a player becomes injured, thus reducing the significant burden Tommy John surgery places on these athletes.