Curt Schilling Tells Pitchers How They Can Create Deception, Keep Their Arms Healthier

It's a hotly debated topic around baseball, at a youth and professional level: what's the explanation for the concerning rise in injuries among pitchers?

There are several competing viewpoints, but most coalesce around one central idea: throwing harder, with more effort, over a longer period of time, has created an epidemic of arm injuries. This isn't just an issue in Major League Baseball, though, of course, it's most visible at that level. 

It's becoming more and more common in youth baseball as well, as a new story in The New York Times points out. In an effort to impress coaches, other players, and potential scouts, kids are throwing harder and harder at younger ages. And it's creating the potential for injury, either immediately or down the road as innings pile up. 

"We’re still trying to figure it out here at the big league level, how to keep guys healthy," Jeremy Hefner, the pitching coach for the New York Mets, told the Times. 

And increasingly, those concerns are making their way down to youth baseball. As the Times story explains, there's been a dramatic rise in pitchers throwing harder and harder, thanks in part to organizations like Perfect Game that track velocity rankings. And legendary former pitcher Curt Schilling has some thoughts on what's exacerbating the epidemic of injuries.

Curt Schilling: "Your windup is part of your arsenal." (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Schilling Thinks Windup Issues Leading To Unnecessary Effort

Responding to a comment on X, Schilling this week explained how the windup can both create beneficial deception for pitchers, and reduce unnecessary stress on the arm. 

"…Your windup is PART of your arsenal," Schilling posted. "My windup was done at ‘85’ mph, slow, easy, and then the ball comes out at 95. It's PART of the art, and part of your arsenal. I ALWAYS want a simpler windup, simple math right? Less moving parts means less chance for error and mistakes. The other main problem? Effort should NOT begin until you START the throw."

Sounds like common sense advice, right? The more movement, the greater probability for unnecessary movement that adds stress while reducing efficiency. And maybe that's part of the injury problem. 

In the endless chase for more velocity, kids, and even adults, are adding more motion to their windups, even before their arm starts moving, hoping to generate more force. It's probably effective too, at least at throwing with more "effort" and increasing harder throws. But it's also potentially putting more stress on arms when it's not necessary. 

Schilling's right, the windup is part of a pitcher's arsenal. Deception and unexpected velocity can be extremely effective tools. Throwing off a hitter's timing with a "slow" windup, then exploding with "high velocity," as he describes, might be one of the best ways to take the opposition out of their game. "Simple math" might also be the answer to keeping pitchers healthier too