New ball? New tech? Max Scherzer wants elevated conversation surrounding pitcher injuries

He certainly has a valid perspective.

Max Scherzer typically does. He possesses a curious, competitive, and innovative nature. Currently, however, he’s harboring concerns. You may recall from last week when Scherzer, still sidelined due to injury, appealed to Major League Baseball to address the issue of grip on the baseball. 

His intention wasn’t to enhance spin rates magically but rather to help mitigate the ongoing injury crisis. While MLB may not have direct control over the biomechanical efforts pitchers exert to reach speeds of 100 mph, it does have the ability to provide baseballs that could potentially alleviate strain on the muscles and ligaments throughout the kinetic chain involved in throwing.

“We need to elevate the conversation,” Scherzer told The Dallas Morning News last week while dealing with a nerve issue in his shoulder that has sidelined his most recent rehab.

His point: Baseball is awash with technology (now we have bat speed metrics available at our beck and call); let’s use it for good for a change.

Give pitchers a baseball with more tackiness. It’s possible. They created one in Japan.

The rules around foreign substances on pitchers’ gloves are still murky and unclear, similar to how the Scoville scale delineates levels of spiciness in peppers. Pitchers are unsure where exactly the line is drawn between what’s considered an acceptable level of “stickiness” versus crossing over into banned foreign substances.

Pitcher Max Scherzer has expressed openness to using technology to help police the use of foreign substances, but cautions that such enforcement measures can potentially go too far, drawing a parallel to the dystopian future depicted in the Terminator movie series. There’s a balance to strike between enforcing the rules and avoiding overly intrusive monitoring.

The main takeaway is that the current guidelines around foreign substances are ambiguous, leaving pitchers uncertain about what is and isn’t allowed. While technology could help clarify and enforce the rules, there are concerns about how far that might go.