MLB rushing season is causing unprecedented pitching injuries

If you thought more pitchers are being injured in the abbreviated 2020 MLB season than any other, you would be right.

There were plenty of concerns when the abbreviated 2020 MLB season began. Teams had approximately three weeks to get ready for the season, leading to the worry that pitchers will not have enough time. While teams were gradually increasing pitch counts, those arms would still be five weeks behind where they would normally be in a regular spring training.

It turns out that those concerns were accurate. Through 18 games, the number of pitchers on the injured list is almost triple what it had been in the past two seasons at this time.

Obviously, not all of these pitchers are the same. The likes of Jameson Taillon and Chris Sale would have been on the Injured List anyway due to Tommy John surgery, so that number is slightly skewed.

But it is not enough to really make a material difference. There have already been three players to miss time with a teres major injury, which had been a rare occurrence before this year. Seemingly everywhere one looks, teams have multiple arms on the shelf, and are constantly searching for anything that could be healthy.

There may not be a better team to encapsulate these injuries than the Astros. Their bullpen is a collection of rookies and Ryan Pressly. The rotation has Zack Greinke and multiple question marks. While their window was already closing, the injury plague of 2020 certainly has not helped.

Somehow, this is not a concern to Major League Baseball. They want to close their eyes and pretend that, if everyone follows protocols, everything will be perfectly fine. There is nothing to see here. The numbers, meanwhile, say otherwise.

Injuries to pitchers have nearly tripled compared to what MLB had over the past two years. But somehow, everything is fine.