Protecting Pitchers: Are Helmets the Answer?

Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe posted an interesting new product on the Extra Bases blog last night. It is a light-weight helmet for pitchers to wear on the mound, similar to the type of head-gear patients sometimes wear after head surgeries. The product is made by Easton-Bell Sports and comes in the wake of concern for the safety of pitchers who are fully exposed on the mound. Josh Beckett’s mild concussion raised some eyebrows a few weeks ago about player protection, despite not being on the mound when he was hit. Player protection has become a hot topic around baseball, especially the most vulnerable among them, pitchers. Will this head-product become the norm in a few years? Let’s look a little further.

Before going into the protection options and need for protection, let’s look at ball speeds and distances. I’m not a physics expert and because of that, I am not going to attempt to do any complicated calculations myself. eFastball.com, however, did some analysis in 2009 of exit speeds (speed of the ball as it leaves the bat) and found that the average MLB exit speed is 103 mph. The high-end of the range was just above 120 mph, a staggering speed when considering a pitcher is just 60’6” from home plate. When you factor in a pitcher’s delivery motion and their landing area, many are even closer to home plate and in a vulnerable position.

Let’s take Josh Beckett for example. In the picture above, you can see the position he is in at the end of his delivery. He is at least 3-4 feet in front of the pitching rubber and his head is out in front of his body, leaving it out in front as the 1st thing to be hit if a ball is struck back at him. On top of his positioning, his ability to react and/or move out of the way of a struck ball is near impossible, especially when you figure the ball is travelling 100+ mph and only has about 56 or 57 feet to travel before striking him.

By my unscientific and rough calculations, it will take the ball about 1/3 of a second to reach the pitcher on the mound. That is assuming the ball is traveling at 100 mph and the pitcher is standing roughly 60 feet away. If you consider the ball could be travelling even faster and, as seen above, the pitcher could be even closer, there is some real potential for serious injury on every pitch. Just as the MLB has moved towards 1st and 3rd base coaches wearing helmets, head gear for pitchers is likely just around the corner, especially considering how more vulnerable pitchers are than coaches. But around the corner in MLB terms, could be 5-10 years away.

Looking at the numbers, it is terrifying to see how quickly a pitcher can go from throwing a pitch to getting hit in the head with a screeching line-drive. When you consider the massive contracts these players have and the investment the team is making in their talents, protection should be the name of the game. Head injuries and concussions can not only end a player’s career, but permanently effect their ability to live a normal life going forward. Taylor Twellman of the New England Revolution was forced into early retirement recently because of a major concussion, and every night he has trouble sleeping because of the side-effect symptoms, even more than a year later.

As Peter Abraham said in his article, and I have said in the past on numerous occasions, it takes a major injury or tragedy for the MLB to make a big change. Requiring pitchers to wear some-type of protective head-gear, whether it be a hard helmet or a softer-style like the one featured above, is a must for baseball and soon. For the betterment of the game and the protection of its stars, now is the time to make the change, not wait until someone is severely hurt or killed.

Tell us what you think about protecting pitchers by answering the poll and leaving a comment.

For all the latest news and analysis from BoSox Injection, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, or with our RSS feed.