Episode 74: Casey Mulholland - The Pitch Count Lie: Why Baseball's Most Trusted Injury Metric Doesn't Work

Why are pitching injuries continuing to rise exponentially despite rapid advancements in sports science and tech? According to baseball development innovator Casey Mulholland, the industry is breaking a fundamental principle of human physiology by leaning into excessive, unpredictable loads without allowing the body time to adapt. In this episode, Mulholland joins hosts Andrew Rizza and Dr. Cameron Roth to challenge some of baseball's most widely accepted injury prevention strategies. Drawing on his own career-ending injuries, years of professional player development, and hundreds of thousands of tracked throws, Mulholland argues that pitch counts alone offer a dangerously incomplete picture of an athlete's workload. He breaks down why velocity has become an unfair scapegoat for arm injuries, the tension between objective data and coaching intuition, and his concerns about how private equity money is reshaping youth baseball and the potential long-term effects on athletic development.MEET THE GUESTCasey Mulholland- Founder, Kinetic Pro Performance- Expert in Pitching Workload Management and Throwing DevelopmentTOPICS DISCUSSED- Why pitch counts fail to measure true throwing workload - The relationship between velocity, mechanics, and injury risk- Balancing objective biometric data with coaching intuition- Bridging communication gaps between orthopedists, PTs, and coaches- The quiet takeover of private equity in youth travel baseball- Why baseball technology suffers from a crucial user-experience problemHIGHLIGHTS00:00 – Intro01:06 – How Mulholland's Personal Injuries Influenced His Current Mission03:12 – Sponsor: Boston Orthopedics and Wellness | Beck Bode04:43 – Why Are Pitching Injuries Rising Despite Modern Sports Science?07:03 – Is Workload Management the New Buzzword?08:32 – Does Chasing Velocity Cause More Injuries?14:30 – Valgus Torque Protocols and the True Capacity of the UCL19:13 – Why Traditional Pitch Counts and Guidelines Are Flawed 25:57 – Building a Better Workload Management System31:19 – Better Collaboration Between Coaches and Medical Providers34:22 – Advice for Orthopedic Surgeons Treating Young Pitchers41:20 – Balancing Objective Data with Coaching Intuition46:51 – Inside the New KP App49:39 – The Rise of Private Equity in Youth Baseball 57:56 – One Change Mulholland Wants to See in Baseball59:13 – Lightning Round: Favorite Pitchers, Fishing Analogies & Shohei Ohtani QUOTES:02:33 - “‘I don't understand. Again, when I was at my strongest, when I had my best mechanics, I got hurt. What do you think caused my injury?’ And he said, ‘Well, I don't know what caused your injury, but there's definitely another category that you're not thinking of. And that's workload management.’" 58:07 - “I'd like to see all throws tracked. Simple as that.”LINKSCasey Mulholland - https://www.linkedin.com/in/casey-mulholland-35ab7542 KineticPro Performance - https://www.kineticprobaseball.com MLB Report on Pitcher Injuries, December 2024 - https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25460405-mlb-pitching-injuries/ An Official Response: MLB Report On Pitching Injuries 2024 - https://www.kineticprobaseball.com/the-mlb-injuries-report-of-2024-got-it-wrong/ RELATED EPISODESThe Surgeon Who Saved Sports - Meet Dr. Andrews - https://youtu.be/tkvI56ZiabA?si=ymcmY7dh7m4F5qXy Why “Fixing” a Pitcher’s Mechanics Might Make Them a Worse Player (with Eric Schoenberg) - https://youtu.be/0FdYIW2PcOQ?si=Op_LF3mvvqhq8Zua Curt Schilling on Why Pitching is Broken (and the Real Story Behind the Bloody Sock) - https://youtu.be/Zj9GYxyT3iI?si=WPz-Sy0Pw_h30Aj2 SPONSORSBoston Orthopedics and Wellness helps you recover faster, move better, and perform at your best with advanced orthopedic and wellness care. Get 15% off your first visit: https://www.bostonorthopedicandwellness.com/Beck Bode is a fee-only fiduciary firm that builds personalized roadmaps to keep your money aligned with your life goals. See what real planning looks like at https://beckbode.comDISCLAIMER The opinions presented on Behind the Sports Medicine are those of the host and guests. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of any affiliated institutions or partners. The content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult a licensed medical professional before making any health or treatment decisions. Behind the Sports Medicine and its affiliates assume no liability for the accuracy or application of the information discussed.#YouthBaseball #SportsMedicine #PitchCounts #WorkloadManagement #InjuryPrevention