Texas Rangers Reliever: With Arm Injuries, Time For MLB To ‘Fix The Baseball’

Kirby Yates has dealt with his own arm injuries in recent years and afterward he noticed a difference in how the baseball felt.

Apr 21, 2024; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; Texas Rangers relief pitcher Kirby Yates. / Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Texas Rangers reliever Kirby Yates has become an indispensable part of the defending world champion’s bullpen.

The 37-year-old right-hander has been in the Majors since 2014. He’s been a set-up man and a closer. The Lihue, Hawaii, native has also lost time to arm problems.

He missed a portion of the COVID-shortened 2020 season due to an elbow injury. He then missed the entire 2021 season and part of the 2022 season after he had Tommy John surgery.

Recently, Yates talked to ESPN as part of a survey of pitchers who talked about the rash of injuries to pitchers this season. Several top pitchers, including Shane Bieber and Spencer Strider, have already suffered season-ending elbow injuries.

ESPN also noted data gathered by baseball injury researcher Jon Roegele, who noted that 34.4% of MLB pitchers in 2022 and 35.3% in 2023 had undergone Tommy John surgery.

Yates said that the star-power of the pitchers that have been hurt this year impacts why fans and baseball are paying attention. It’s reached the point where both MLB and the MLB Players Association have gone public with their beliefs on why there are so many injuries.

Yates isn’t sure what’s behind the perceived rash of injuries. But he knows where he would start, and it’s something that he noticed when he came back from his bout with arm injuries.

The baseballs are hard to grip.

“We pitchers have complained about pitchers having a grip on a baseball for years and they've done absolutely nothing to help out with that, it's actually the reverse,” Yates said. “We could start there. If they addressed the cover of the baseball and we could hold on a little bit better, it might make us spin the ball a little bit better.”

He said the current covers cause him and others to “squeeze the life” out of the ball and that he notices a difference in his arm the next morning.

“Fix the baseball, start there,” Yates said. “And then you see what happens.”

The Rangers conclude their three-game series with the Seattle Mariners on Thursday.