A Plague of Their Own: Injury Incidence Remains Elevated in the 2021 Major League Baseball Season Compared to Pre-COVID-19 Seasons.
Brooks N Platt, Breanna M Sullivan, Shawn Dripchak and 4 others
PMID 36237645WHAT IT FOUND
Injury rates in Major League Baseball remained elevated in 2021 compared to pre-pandemic seasons, despite a return to normal preseason training.
Pitchers and position players injured in 2021 had significantly higher acute-to-chronic workload ratios than their peers, suggesting accumulated load persists as a risk factor.
Key findings
01The overall incidence rate of injuries per 1000 athlete exposures in the 2021 MLB season was significantly higher than in pre-COVID-19 seasons.
02Pitchers and position players who were injured in 2021 had significantly higher acute-to-chronic workload ratios at the time of injury compared to the average for their group.
03Lower extremity injuries, particularly foot/ankle and hamstring, increased significantly in 2021 compared to both pre-COVID-19 seasons and the shortened 2020 season.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study relies on injured list placements, which are roster management tools and not perfect proxies for injury, potentially underestimating true incidence if minor injuries were managed without IL placement. Publicly available data lacked specific injury details, leading to a large 'miscellaneous' category where 99.6% of 2021 injuries had no specific reason listed. The population is limited to elite professional baseball players, so findings may not generalize to other athletes or levels of competition. The study design is observational and cannot establish causation for the observed increases in injury rates. Workload was measured by games played, which does not account for variations in intensity or pitch counts between players.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that returning to a normal preseason training schedule eliminates injury risk following a disrupted season. This study found that injury rates remained elevated in the second year post-disruption, suggesting that deconditioning effects or accumulated load risks persist longer than one season.