re: Tommy John - Not If, but When?

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If it affected velocity—and thus made them less effective—they would never wear it.

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You are correct, if left up to the players, no one will sacrifice effectiveness for safety . For players safety, baseball officials would have to make it mandatory.

People used to play football without a helmet or pads either but somewhere along the way, those in charge of the sport decided that everyone had to wear the pads for their own safety.

Hell in hockey they just started making face shields mandatory like 20 years ago and they could only make it mandatory for new players because the old heads wouldn’t wear something restricting their vision despite the safety it provides.

So yeah, it would be up to those charged with player safety to decide that arm braces are mandatory for pitchers much the same way that helmets are mandatory for hitters.