Blue Jays reliever Erik Swanson is dealing with a median nerve entrapment in his throwing arm, as the Jays announced to MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson and other reporters yesterday. Swanson received a cortisone shot to deal with the issue, and won’t throw for a few days while the shot takes effect.
It still seems likely that this setback is enough to put Swanson on the injured list at the beginning of the season, as was related last week when Swanson reported discomfort in his throwing elbow. An MRI came back clean without any sign of structural damage, so Swanson has at least avoided any kind of longer-term elbow problem.
A median nerve entrapment (which is related to carpal tunnel syndrome) isn’t exactly a small matter since nerve issues have no set recovery timeline. On the plus side, there hasn’t been any indication that Swanson might miss any great amount of time, even if a more concrete plan might not be known until the right-hander starts throwing again.
Acquired from the Mariners in the 2022-2023 offseason, Swanson was outstanding in his first year in Toronto, but injuries contributed to a rough start to his 2024 campaign. Swanson dealt with some forearm tightness during last year’s Spring Training and a subsequent IL stint delayed his start to the season, and he then struggled so badly over his first 18 appearances that he was sent to Triple-A. Swanson returned to the big leagues after the All-Star break and then seemed like his old self, making for some rather glaring splits — a 9.20 ERA in 14 2/3 innings in the first half and a 2.55 ERA over 24 2/3 frames in the second half.
Given the dismal state of Toronto’s bullpen last season, the Blue Jays badly need Swanson to stay healthy and fully bounce back to his past form as a key setup man. New signing Jeff Hoffman looks to be in line for the closer’s job, with Chad Green, Yimi Garcia, Nick Sandlin, and Swanson all lined up for high-leverage work.
Swanson had one heck of a difference in his first half to his second half. Blue Jays need him to pick up where he left off in the second half.
Yep. He was a whole new pitcher after once he came back from injury. The article also fails to mention he had a late start to last season and missed almost all of spring training because his son got hit by a car during the spring which just added on to the problems he had early.
I didn’t know about his son, thank you for sharing. That’s terrible, I can only imagine the stress factor on top of his baseball setback.
Swanson’s median nerve entrapment isn’t just an isolated issue—it fits into a larger trend of recurring arm injuries among Blue Jays pitchers, revealing a fundamental flaw in their pitching workload management and biomechanics approach.
The Jays are likely overstressing pitchers’ arms with their training philosophy, throwing programs, or pitch selection strategies.
I don’t think you have any data to back that up that opinion.
Jays have had a lot of health from their staff and starters this window, there are injuries of course but in no way is it more than league averages.
@Dustyslambchops23
Sure, their overall injury numbers might look okay, but if you look closer, you see a bunch of their pitchers are getting the same kind of arm problems. That’s not just bad luck. That’s a sign something’s wrong with how they’re training or how they’re telling them to pitch.
The issue is the same across all teams. The requirement for max velocity and max spin rate on every pitch is the main culprit for 95%+ of the arm issues in MLB. It’s as simple as that.
Pitchers have to do it too, or they’ll be replaced with someone else who is willing to go full bore every time they touch the ball. Left handed pitchers have it a little better as they can get away with less velocity and still make the team, but if you are a RHP who can’t consistently throw 94MPH+ and can’t strike out more than 20% of the batters you face, it’s really hard to earn a spot on a team these days. Some are able to (Kyle Hendricks, etc..) but for the most part, it’s 100% all day, every day or start looking for a job outside of baseball. It’s a shame to see…I truly wonder how a 25 year old Greg Maddux would fare in today’s MLB.
Have you look at data across the league to get to this opinion?
You’ve seen a few injuries on the only team you follow and trying to draw some conclusion with zero data to back it up. Then you run to the comments to preach like you have it all figured out.
Jays were 7th best in terms of games missed in 24, 11th in 23, 12th in 22,
Surely a team with ‘fundamental flaw’ in pitching workload and biomechanics approach would be able to crack the top 15 at least no?
Please name 3 pitchers with this injury that have been rostered by the Blue Jays the past five years.
This just feels like an isolated dart throw to me.
Lol
Just add Robertson.
I agree with adding Robertson, I would add Rizzo too, look for a bounce back year