Study · Injuries
Where Players Get Hurt
Elbow placements are up 129% since 2015, against 24% for shoulders. The elbow now leads every body part for pitchers, ahead of the shoulder.
Every injured list placement in MLB's transaction records comes with a short reason, such as "Right elbow sprain" or "Left hamstring strain." We grouped 9,738 placements from 2015 to 2026 by body part to see where players get hurt and how that has changed.
The elbow is the story. Elbow placements went from 68 in 2015 to 156 in 2026. Counting forearm strains, which are often the first sign of an elbow problem, the elbow and forearm made up 29% of pitcher placements in 2015 and 36% in 2026. Shoulder placements went from 96 to 119.
Hamstrings are the position players' version: 27 placements in 2015 and 61 in 2026. Hamstring stints are short, though, with a median of 24 days against 47 for elbows, and 49% of elbow placements from 2024 to 2026 ended the player's season.
2021 was an outlier, with 1,502 placements against a typical 780. Part of the jump came from placements with no stated reason (437 that year, against 37 in a typical season), consistent with COVID-19 protocol stints, which clubs didn't have to explain. Placements with a stated injury were also well above normal, after the 60-game 2020 season left players short of a full workload.