Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. If you’d like to submit a question, send it to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com. Questions may be edited for clarity, length and style.
Question: It sure seems like the Orioles’ pitchers have quite a number of UCL and elbow-type injuries. Do you know how the Orioles’ rate of such injuries compares with the rest of the teams in the AL and NL? From: Judy Pruce Funk
Answer: Judy, I’ve gotten many questions about the spate of arm injuries, including from Scott Meehan and Glenn Fuller. It’s not only the Orioles who have been hit with these injuries. I don’t have current figures on days lost to injuries, but in both 2022 and 2023, the Orioles were one of the healthiest teams in baseball. The Tampa Bay Rays and Los Angeles Dodgers have had a large number of arm injuries.
Question: Do pitchers get their arms iced down in the locker room after an outing? I used to see pitchers in the dugout with ice wrapped on their shoulder and elbow, or do they go back and have it done behind the scenes? I know from having surgeries that ice is your friend after doing exercises. From: Donald Cooper
Answer: Donald, there’s not as much icing these days as was done in the past. It’s more of an old-school remedy, and while there are still some veterans who do it, there are other treatments used by most pitchers.