The Science of Throwing a Baseball: 35 Scientific Review Papers
Throwing is fundamental motor skill that reaches a mature motor pattern at about age 6 in most boys (at least based on research from the 1980s!!) …. and if one perfects it with accuracy and velocity, a talented adult pitcher can earn an average annual salary of $5.2 million (median: $2.8 million; minimum: $740,000) working (playing) in Major League Baseball. I also came across a calculation on Quora showing the average per pitch is about $2000 – but don’t quote me on it.
In the process of preparing for some sport science and research in youth and college baseball, I conducted a literature search on Pubmed to brush up on the science of baseball. Using the singular key word ‘baseball’ yielded 507 review articles. Refining the search to include ‘baseball and throwing’ yielded 174 and ‘baseball and pitching’ yielded 98. Several other papers related to baseball and throwing or pitching included the key word ‘injury’ (n=395). On the other hand, only 10 and 15 papers showed up for hitting and batting, respectively.
This finding of a focus of research in baseball on throwing and injuries was also highlighted in a bibliometric analysis - the application of statistical methods to the study of bibliographic data like research articles - of the Top 50 cited journal articles on overhead throwing athletes. Marquez-Lara A, Stone AV, Luo TD, Parker BR, Sharma A, Freehill MT. JSES Open Access. 2017 Aug 3;1(2):55-62.
Among the top 50 articles, the shoulder was the most common body region studied (33 of 50 [66%]). There was a also good representation of shoulder and elbow kinematics (19 of 43 [44.2%]) and pathoanatomy (15 of 43 [34.9%]) and surgical management of shoulder and elbow pathology (9 of 43 [20.9%]).
While it would be fun to write a Review of Reviews (yes, that’s a real thing) or even put these papers into an AI tool to generate a summary or lit review, I am at this time only going to share some of the key review papers published on baseball and throwing or pitching between 2010 – 2024. These range from youth to professional and cover a variety of sub-topics such as throwing mechanics, injury prevention, factors associated with throwing velocity, workload considerations, etc.
I hope you can find one or a few review papers that are useful (and not behind a paywall). Enjoy.
How to Throw a Baseball: Throwing & Pitching Mechanics
A Clinician's Guide to Analysis of the Pitching Motion. Christoffer DJ, Melugin HP, Cherny CE. Curr Rev Musculoskelet Med. 2019 Jun;12(2):98-104.
The biomechanics of throwing: simplified and cogent. Weber AE, Kontaxis A, O'Brien SJ, Bedi A. Sports Med Arthrosc Rev. 2014 Jun;22(2):72-9.
Youth Baseball Pitching Mechanics: A Systematic Review. Thompson SF, Guess TM, Plackis AC, Sherman SL, Gray AD. Sports Health. 2018 Mar/Apr;10(2):133-140.
Pitching mechanics and performance of adult baseball pitchers: A systematic review and meta-analysis for normative data. Mine K, Milanese S, Jones MA, Saunders S, Onofrio B. J Sci Med Sport. 2023 Jan;26(1):69-76.
Comparison of pitching kinematics between youth and adult baseball pitchers: a meta-analytic approach. Wicke J, Keeley DW, Oliver GD. Sports Biomech. 2013 Nov;12(4):315-23
Motion Analysis
Combined Countermovement Jump Testing and Motion Analysis as the Future of Performance Assessment for Baseball Pitchers: A Narrative Review. Sakurai M, Szymanski DJ, Qiao M, Crotin RL. J Strength Cond Res. 2023 Jun 1;37(6):1327-1338.
Two-Dimensional Video Analysis of Youth and Adolescent Pitching Biomechanics: A Tool For the Common Athlete. DeFroda SF, Thigpen CA, Kriz PK. Curr Sports Med Rep. 2016 Sep-Oct;15(5):350-8
Predictors of Throwing Velocity & Pitching Performance
Kinematic Parameters Predictive of Pitch Velocity in Youth to Professional Baseball Pitchers: A Qualitative Systematic Review. Kew ME, Koo A, Manzi JE, Coladonato C, Estrada J, Dines JS, Carr JB. Orthop J Sports Med. 2023 Nov 29;11(11):23259671231196539.
Increased Pitch Velocity Is Associated With Throwing Arm Kinetics, Injury Risk, and Ulnar Collateral Ligament Reconstruction in Adolescent, Collegiate, and Professional Baseball Pitchers: A Qualitative Systematic Review. Manzi J, Kew M, Zeitlin J, Sudah SY, Sandoval T, Kunze KN, Haeberle H, Ciccotti MC, Carr JB 2nd, Dines JS. Arthroscopy. 2023 May;39(5):1330-1344.
Individual factors associated with baseball pitching performance: scoping review. Mercier MA, Tremblay M, Daneau C, Descarreaux M. BMJ Open Sport Exerc Med. 2020 Feb 12;6(1):e000704.
Increasing Throwing Velocity including Interval Throwing, Weighted Balls, Long Toss
Increasing Ball Velocity in the Overhead Athlete: A Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Myers NL, Sciascia AD, Westgate PM, Kibler WB, Uhl TL. J Strength Cond Res. 2015 Oct;29(10):2964-79
Interval Throwing Programs for Baseball Players: Methodological Assessment of the Quality and Construct of Publicly Available Programs. Boos AM, Sambare N, Smith MV, Freehill MT, Bowman EN, Erickson BJ, Chalmers PN, Sciascia A, Camp CL. Sports Health. 2024 Mar 28:19417381241237011
The Science and Biomechanics of Long-Toss. Calcei JG, Freehill MT. Curr Rev Musculoskelet Med. 2021 Jun;14(3):224-231.
The Evidence Behind Weighted Ball Throwing Programs for the Baseball Player: Do They Work and Are They Safe? Melugin HP, Smart A, Verhoeven M, Dines JS, Camp CL. Curr Rev Musculoskelet Med. 2021 Feb;14(1):88-94.
Weighted-Ball Velocity Enhancement Programs for Baseball Pitchers: A Systematic Review. Caldwell JE, Alexander FJ, Ahmad CS. Orthop J Sports Med. 2019 Feb 12;7(2):2325967118825469.
Risk Factors for Throwing Injuries
Risk Factors for Baseball-Related Arm Injuries: A Systematic Review. Agresta CE, Krieg K, Freehill MT. Orthop J Sports Med. 2019 Feb 25;7(2):2325967119825557.
Preventing Throwing Injuries: Training Programs & Interventions
Injury Prevention in Baseball: from Youth to the Pros. Melugin HP, Leafblad ND, Camp CL, Conte S. Curr Rev Musculoskelet Med. 2018 Mar;11(1):26-34.
Recommendations to prevent shoulder and elbow injuries due to over training in elementary school baseball players. Takagishi K. J Orthop Sci. 2017 Sep;22(5):809-810.
Preventive interventions for throwing injuries in baseball players: a scoping review. Karasuyama M, Tsuruta T, Kawakami J, Oike T, Uchida K, Minamikawa T. J Shoulder Elbow Surg. 2024 Aug;33(8):e451-e458
Throwing Injury Prevention Strategies with a Whole Kinetic Chain-Focused Approach. Mayes M, Salesky M, Lansdown DA. Curr Rev Musculoskelet Med. 2022 Apr;15(2):53-64.
Offseason Workout Recommendations for Baseball Players. Klein B, Cobian D, Simmons G, Reinold M. Curr Rev Musculoskelet Med. 2021 Apr;14(2):174-184.
Current Concepts in Arm Care Exercise Programs and Injury Risk Reduction in Adolescent Baseball Players: A Clinical Review. Matsel KA, Butler RJ, Malone TR, Hoch MC, Westgate PM, Uhl TL. Sports Health. 2021 May-Jun;13(3):245-250
Efficacy of Arm Care Programs for Injury Prevention. McElheny K, Sgroi T, Carr JB 2nd. Curr Rev Musculoskelet Med. 2021 Apr;14(2):160-167.
The Advanced Throwers Ten Exercise Program: a new exercise series for enhanced dynamic shoulder control in the overhead throwing athlete. Wilk KE, Yenchak AJ, Arrigo CA, Andrews JR. Phys Sportsmed. 2011 Nov;39(4):90-7.
Shoulder injuries in the skeletally immature baseball pitcher and recommendations for the prevention of injury. Zaremski JL, Krabak BJ. PM R. 2012 Jul;4(7):509-16
Upper extremity physeal injury in young baseball pitchers. Saltzman BM, Chalmers PN, Mascarenhas R, Cole BJ, Romeo AA. Phys Sportsmed. 2014 Sep;42(3):100-11.
Factors related to injury in youth and adolescent baseball pitching, with an eye toward prevention. Popchak A, Burnett T, Weber N, Boninger M. Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 2015 May;94(5):395-409
Predicting and Preventing Injury in Major League Baseball. Erickson BJ, Chalmers PN, Bush-Joseph CA, Romeo AA. Am J Orthop (Belle Mead NJ). 2016 Mar-Apr;45(3):152-6.
Monitoring Throwing Workload
A Review of Workload-Monitoring Considerations for Baseball Pitchers. Dowling B, McNally MP, Chaudhari AMW, Oñate JA. J Athl Train. 2020 Sep 1;55(9):911-917.
Monitoring Workload in Throwing-Dominant Sports: A Systematic Review. Black GM, Gabbett TJ, Cole MH, Naughton G. Sports Med. 2016 Oct;46(10):1503-16.
Pitch Counts in Youth Baseball and Softball: A Historical Review. Feeley BT, Schisel J, Agel J. Clin J Sport Med. 2018 Jul;28(4):401-405.
Curveballs in Youth Pitchers
Curveballs in Youth Pitchers: A Review of the Current Literature. Tamate TM, Garber AC. Hawaii J Health Soc Welf. 2019 Nov;78(11 Suppl 2):16-20.
Sport Specialization and the Throwing Athlete
Current Trends and Impact of Early Sports Specialization in the Throwing Athlete. Anderson FL, Knudsen ML, Ahmad CS, Popkin CA. Orthop Clin North Am. 2020 Oct;51(4):517-525.
Sport Specialization and Overuse Injuries in Adolescent Throwing Athletes: A Narrative Review. Zaremski JL, Zeppieri G Jr, Tripp BL. J Athl Train. 2019 Oct;54(10):1030-1039.