Background:The ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) is essential for elbow stability during pitching. In professional baseball, the fastball (FB) is the most commonly used pitch, making postrecovery FB performance after UCL reconstruction (UCLR) a crucial aspect to consider.Hypotheses:(1) Pitchers undergoing UCLR would show no significant changes in performance metrics compared with nonoperated pitchers with similar FB velocity and spin rate, and (2) no significant variance would be found in these metrics within the operated pitchers concerning their preinjury anthropometric characteristics and pitching performance metrics.Study Design:Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3.Methods:The study included 91 Major League Baseball (MLB) pitchers who underwent primary UCLR between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2021. A matched 1:1 control group of MLB pitchers without UCLR injuries was established. Publicly available pitch metrics and anthropometric data were compared between the study and control groups.Results:Disparities in several performance metrics emerged during the first postreturn year (PRY1), including FB use percentage ( P = .029), fielder independent pitching (FIP) ( P = .021), and standardized FB runs above average per 100 pitches (wFB/C) ( P < .001). Subgroup analysis within the UCLR group revealed a negative correlation between presurgery mean FB velocity and its subsequent change ( P < .001) and a positive correlation with changes in FIP ( P = .025) from the index year to PRY1. A negative correlation was observed between FB use percentage in the index year and its change by PRY1 ( P = .002). By the second postreturn year, no significant differences were found in these performance metrics. No factors were significantly related to prolonged recovery time.Conclusion:Although FB velocity and spin rate remained consistent, significant differences were observed in FB use percentage, FIP, and wFB/C in PRY1. However, by second postreturn year, these differences were no longer significant. No specific risk factors were identified concerning prolonged recovery time between pre-UCLR FB pitching metrics and the physical anthropometric data. These results suggest that although the short-term postsurgery period may affect more specialized pitching metrics, the basic pitching performance metrics, as hypothesized, remain largely unaffected by UCLR.

中文翻译：

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美国职业棒球大联盟投手尺侧副韧带重建后的快球质量


背景：尺侧副韧带（UCL）对于俯仰时肘部的稳定性至关重要。在职业棒球中，快球 (FB) 是最常用的投球，因此 UCL 重建 (UCLR) 后恢复后的 FB 表现成为需要考虑的一个重要方面。 假设：(1) 与接受 UCLR 的投手相比，接受 UCLR 的投手在表现指标上没有显着变化未手术的投手具有相似的 FB 速度和旋转速度，并且 (2) 在手术的投手中，关于其受伤前人体测量特征和投球性能指标，在这些指标中不会发现显着差异。证据级别，3。方法：该研究纳入了 2015 年 1 月 1 日至 2021 年 12 月 31 日期间接受初次 UCLR 治疗的 91 名美国职业棒球大联盟 (MLB) 投手。建立了一个由没有 UCLR 损伤的 MLB 投手组成的 1:1 匹配对照组。对研究组和对照组之间公开的投球指标和人体测量数据进行了比较。结果：回归后第一年 (PRY1) 中出现了几个表现指标的差异，包括 FB 使用百分比 (P = .029)、外野手独立投球 (FIP) ( P = .021)，标准化 FB 每 100 个投球的运行次数高于平均水平 (wFB/C) ( P < .001)。 UCLR 组内的亚组分析显示，从索引年到 PRY1，术前平均 FB 速度与其随后的变化 ( P < .001) 呈负相关，与 FIP 的变化 ( P = .025) 呈正相关。指数年的 FB 使用百分比与其 PRY1 的变化之间存在负相关关系 ( P = .002)。到回报后的第二年，这些绩效指标没有发现显着差异。没有因素与恢复时间延长显着相关。结论：虽然PRY1的FB速度和旋转速率保持一致，但FB使用百分比、FIP和wFB/C存在显着差异。然而，到了回归后的第二年，这些差异不再显着。没有发现关于 UCLR 之前的 FB 俯仰指标和身体人体测量数据之间恢复时间延长的具体风险因素。这些结果表明，尽管短期术后期间可能会影响更专业的投球指标，但正如假设的那样，基本的投球表现指标在很大程度上不受 UCLR 的影响。