Injured Chicago Cubs Reliever Says Money Playing Role In Arm Injuries

Drew Smyly was one of several players that recently talked about the rash of arm injuries in baseball and what could be done about it.

Apr 9, 2024; San Diego, California, USA; Chicago Cubs relief pitcher Drew Smyly. / Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

Chicago Cubs relief pitcher Drew Smyly is on the injured list with a right hip impingement. But, earlier in his career the 34-year-old left-hander had his own bout with arm issues.

In early 2017 the Tampa Bay Rays traded him to the Seattle Mariners. He started the season on the injured list and was eventually diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow. That led to Tommy John surgery.

Smyly missed all of 2017 and all of 2018, the latter of which he spent with the Cubs. Chicago traded him to the Texas Rangers in the 2018 offseason and he eventually returned to the Cubs before the 2022 season.

To many, there are a rash of pitching injuries in baseball. ESPN recently talked with Smyly and several other pitchers to find out their views on the topic.

The story came after several top pitchers have seen their seasons end due to elbow injuries, including Shane Bieber and Spencer Strider. Jon Roegele, who researches baseball injuries, also published the last two years of Tommy John injury data, and 34.4% of MLB pitchers in 2022 and 35.3% in 2023 have undergone the surgery.

There is pressure within the game to determine the causes, to the point where both MLB and the MLB Players Association have their own ideas.

But Smyly has a first-hand understanding of the procedure and its impact. He’s also pitched a decade in the Majors and he’s seen the game evolve.

He’s had to evolve with it, to the point where his fastball velocity and his spin rate have both gone up since his surgery.

There’s a good reason for it, and a good reason why pitchers are chasing both — money.

“Players know that ‘the harder I throw, the nastier my pitches are, the more money teams will throw at me,’” Smyly said. “That's a real thing, too, and something every team promotes. The time of commanding pitches down and away and mixing speeds, that's just not how the game is. Players know how to make money. That's another element. There is so much information now. It goes all the way down to the high school kids. They know what spin rate is, what vertical movement is and what velocity they need to get to.”

Before Smyly went on the injured list, he pitched in nine games with a 2-2 record and a 4.97 ERA in 11.1 innings.