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Summative Report on Time Out of Play and Injury Rates for Major and Minor League Baseball: An Analysis of 83,215
Gavin H Ward1, Fabien Meta2, Brandon Cabarcas1
1Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.
Background:
Recent reports suggest increasing trends in injuries, primarily among pitchers and upper extremity injuries, among Major League Baseball (MLB) and Minor League Baseball (MiLB) players. Accordingly, an updated comprehensive report on injury epidemiology in professional baseball is needed.
Purpose:
To (1) update the literature with a comprehensive epidemiological report of all injuries in MLB and MiLB; (2) provide a detailed breakdown of characteristics of the top 50 injuries; and (3) analyze long-term trends in injuries and days missed (DM) over time.
Study Design:
Case Series; Level of evidence, 4.
Methods:
The MLB Health and Injury Tracking System was used to identify injuries in MLB and MiLB players from 2011 to 2023. The inclusion criteria consisted of injuries occurring during spring training, regular season, or postseason activities that resulted in ≥1 DM from play. Basic and advanced player and injury characteristics were analyzed-including a list of the top 50 most common injuries.
Results:
From 2011 to 2023, a total of 83,215 musculoskeletal injuries occurred among MLB and MiLB players, resulting in 1,280,887 total DM, with a mean (median) DM per injury of 18 (11). The upper extremity accounted for 46% of injuries, and the lower extremity for 30%. The most common injury was hamstring strains (n = 6603; 7.9%); hamate fractures had the highest rate of surgery (81%); and elbow medial ulnar collateral ligament injury resulted in the highest DM (583,070 days). From 2011 to 2023, a significant increase was observed in the number of annual injuries (excluding 2020) (P = .028) and injuries per game (P = .003). However, 2018 and 2019 saw the highest number of injuries, and injuries did not rise after 2020.
Conclusion:
The annual number of injuries and rate of injuries per game increased significantly from 2011 to 2023; however, injuries did not increase over the final 3 years of the study (2021 to 2023). The percentage of overall injuries was dominated by upper extremity injuries among pitchers, although hamstring strains were the most common injury type overall.
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