Mike Trout, the Los Angles Angles’ center fielder and perhaps baseball’s best player, drew a walk here last week, trotted to first base and put on a protective sliding glove that resembled an oven mitt.
Trout, a two-time most valuable player in the American League, is one of three prominent players who have hurt their thumbs and fingers while sliding headfirst this season, along with Carlos Correa, the Houston Astros' All-Star shortstop, and Kris Bryant, the Chicago Cubs' third baseman and the reigning M.V.P. in the National League.
These high-profile incidents have occurred soon after the publication of the first in-depth study about the frequency and effects of sliding injuries in professional baseball. The study suggests it could be more risky to slide headfirst, which some players prefer for strategic reasons.
“It's a growing topic, for sure,” said Jeff Luhnow, the general manager of the Astros.
The study, published in May in The American Journal of Sports Medicine, tracked all sliding injuries to base runners in
the major leagues and minor leagues from 2011 to 2015 that resulted in at least one missed day of play.
The study, partly funded by Major League Baseball and employing its injury database, found 236 sliding injuries over all during those five seasons, which is not necessarily a large number.
Trout, a two-time most valuable player in the American League, is one of three prominent players who have hurt their thumbs and fingers while sliding headfirst this season, along with Carlos Correa, the Houston Astros' All-Star shortstop, and Kris Bryant, the Chicago Cubs' third baseman and the reigning M.V.P. in the National League.
These high-profile incidents have occurred soon after the publication of the first in-depth study about the frequency and effects of sliding injuries in professional baseball. The study suggests it could be more risky to slide headfirst, which some players prefer for strategic reasons.
“It's a growing topic, for sure,” said Jeff Luhnow, the general manager of the Astros.
The study, published in May in The American Journal of Sports Medicine, tracked all sliding injuries to base runners in
the major leagues and minor leagues from 2011 to 2015 that resulted in at least one missed day of play.
The study, partly funded by Major League Baseball and employing its injury database, found 236 sliding injuries over all during those five seasons, which is not necessarily a large number.
“I was surprised with how few injuries actually occurred while sliding,” said Dr. Christopher L. Camp, the lead author of the study and an assistant professor of orthopedics at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.
Yet during the period of the study, marquee players such as Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman of the Washington Nationals; Josh Hamilton, then of the Angles; Yasiel Puig of the Los Angles Dodgers; and Dustin Pedroia of the Boston Red Sox all sustained hand injuries while sliding or diving into a base headfirst.
Yet during the period of the study, marquee players such as Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman of the Washington Nationals; Josh Hamilton, then of the Angles; Yasiel Puig of the Los Angles Dodgers; and Dustin Pedroia of the Boston Red Sox all sustained hand injuries while sliding or diving into a base headfirst.
When such injuries do occur, the study showed, time missed from play can be considerable.
On average, major leaguers missed 15.3 days for a sliding injury. And more than 12 percent of injuries required surgery, when the average absence grew to two months for major leaguers and minor leaguers as a group.
The study seemed to affirm the long-held belief among players and managers that it can be more dangerous to slide headfirst, even as many consider it a more effective tactic than sliding feet first to avoid tags.
Video analysis of half of the games played in the major leagues in 2015, prorated for the entire season, estimated the rate of injury to be one for every 249 headfirst slides, compared with one for every 413 feet-first slides.
A larger sample size would be needed for the variance to be statistically significant, Camp said in a telephone interview, but he added, “I think if we had higher numbers, that would bear out as a statistically significant difference, most certainly.”
Trout tore a ligament in his left thumb on May 28 while stealing second base, underwent surgery and missed more six weeks before returning after All-Star break.
On average, major leaguers missed 15.3 days for a sliding injury. And more than 12 percent of injuries required surgery, when the average absence grew to two months for major leaguers and minor leaguers as a group.
The study seemed to affirm the long-held belief among players and managers that it can be more dangerous to slide headfirst, even as many consider it a more effective tactic than sliding feet first to avoid tags.
Video analysis of half of the games played in the major leagues in 2015, prorated for the entire season, estimated the rate of injury to be one for every 249 headfirst slides, compared with one for every 413 feet-first slides.
A larger sample size would be needed for the variance to be statistically significant, Camp said in a telephone interview, but he added, “I think if we had higher numbers, that would bear out as a statistically significant difference, most certainly.”
Trout tore a ligament in his left thumb on May 28 while stealing second base, underwent surgery and missed more six weeks before returning after All-Star break.
His case was typical of what the study found for major leaguers and minor leaguers: Sliding injuries are nearly four times more likely to occur at second base than at other bases. And hands, fingers and thumbs, with their fine architecture, were approximately twice as likely to be injured as ankles and knees.
“He's kind of the prototypical example, unfortunately, ” Camp said of Trout.
In the absence of their star for 39 games, the Angles muddled along below .500 and fell an additional five and a half games behind the Astros in the American League West.
“The effect of these injuries based on time out of play and lost productivity is vast,” the study said.
Correa, the Houston shortstop, jammed his left thumb while sliding into a catcher's shinguard at home plate in early July. Pain persisted through the All-Star break, and then Correa left a game on July 17 after an aching swing-and-miss during an at-bat. He was found to have a torn ligament in his left thumb and is expected to be out until September.
Bryant, of the Cubs, sprained the little finger on his left hand on July 19, striking a third baseman’s foot as he slid awkwardly while trying to advance on a wild pitch. He missed only one game, but he said last week that nagging soreness remained in the finger.
“He's kind of the prototypical example, unfortunately, ” Camp said of Trout.
In the absence of their star for 39 games, the Angles muddled along below .500 and fell an additional five and a half games behind the Astros in the American League West.
“The effect of these injuries based on time out of play and lost productivity is vast,” the study said.
Correa, the Houston shortstop, jammed his left thumb while sliding into a catcher's shinguard at home plate in early July. Pain persisted through the All-Star break, and then Correa left a game on July 17 after an aching swing-and-miss during an at-bat. He was found to have a torn ligament in his left thumb and is expected to be out until September.
Bryant, of the Cubs, sprained the little finger on his left hand on July 19, striking a third baseman’s foot as he slid awkwardly while trying to advance on a wild pitch. He missed only one game, but he said last week that nagging soreness remained in the finger.
