The New Yorker reports on Shohei Ohtani's recent ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) tear and the rise of UCL injuries in an interview with David W. Altchek, MD, co-chief emeritus of the HSS Sports Medicine Institute.

UCL injuries often require medical intervention, and for baseball players, usually what’s known as Tommy John surgery, and that would keep him off the mound for at least a year, with no guarantee of a full recovery. He will soon be a free agent, and the injury might cost him tens of millions of dollars, if not much more. 

Even a young, healthy arm is taxed to an unfathomable degree. “There’s long-standing evidence that a fastball at ninety-four miles per hour gets close to the maximum load a normal UCL can withstand,” said Dr. Altchek.

Read the full article at newyorker.com.