1. The shoulder is the most commonly injured area.
There are many ways to injure your shoulder while playing baseball. You can injure your shoulder from overswinging while hitting the ball. Sometimes when outfielders catch fly balls, they are put into awkward positions, such as diving or running into the wall. Base runners can injure their shoulders sliding headfirst into the bag. But most shoulder injuries happen when the ball is being thrown with great force. It's no surprise, then, that pitchers have more shoulder problems than the other position players.
2. Pitchers throw a lot.
Pitchers throw more often than the other position players. A complete game usually takes upward of 100 pitches. Even relievers who only throw an inning or two may be doing so for two or three straight nights. And don't forget the time warming up in the bull pen.
3. Pitchers throw hard.
While the hardest-throwing flame ballers generate speeds of over 100 mph, their angular velocity is an even more impressive statistic. Angular velocity in a pitcher is the speed of the hand rotating around the shoulder joint. In major league pitchers, this can be upward of 7,000 degrees per second of angular velocity. Translated to terms we can understand, this is the equivalent of the rotation speed of the wheels of a car going 70mph.
4. Fast, hard pitches can cause bursitis and impingement.
The constant throwing motion can irritate the anterior shoulder structures. This could lead to impingement, tendinitis and bursitis. Shoulder tendinitis happens when the rotator cuff tendons become inflamed. When this happens, the tendons may get pinched under the top of the shoulder blade, which is called impingement syndrome. Tendinitis and impingement syndrome often occur together with bursitis (inflammation of the bursa). The bursa sits between the rotator cuff and the top of the shoulder blade.
5. Worst of all, pitching can cause rotator cuff tears.
In more severe cases, you could tear your rotator cuff, damaging the tendons and muscles that support, stabilize and rotate your arm. Because the tendon is ripped off the bone, there can be limited movement and decreased strength in the shoulder. Often, this feels like a "dead arm." A common symptom of a rotator cuff tear is aching and weakness in the shoulder when the arm is lifted overhead. If physical therapy fails to strengthen the rotator cuff muscles, surgery may be necessary to repair the tendon and solder it back to the bone. Proper rehabilitation of the rotator cuff is critical for full recovery from a shoulder injury. Usually, it takes about a year to fully recover and get back to throwing.
