Erickson Brandon J, Camp Christopher L, D'Angelo John, Ma Kevin, Hebert Liz, Casey Helen, Papp Derek F, Lund Pamela, Potter Hollis, Chalmers Peter N
Northwell Orthopaedics, Tarrytown, New York, USA.
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.
Am J Sports Med. 2025 Jul;53(8):1826-1831. doi: 10.1177/03635465251339773. Epub 2025 May 19.
Major League Baseball (MLB) recently instituted a combine for their prospective players.
PURPOSE/HYPOTHESIS: The purpose of this study was to report initial epidemiological findings for both physical examination and imaging findings for the MLB Combine. It was hypothesized that most players would have no significant abnormal physical examination findings, but most would have abnormal findings on their shoulder and elbow magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans.
Descriptive epidemiology study.
All players who attended the 2023 MLB Combine were included. History was taken and physical examination was performed by an MLB team physician, and MRI of the shoulder, elbow, cervical spine, and lumbar spine was performed on all players and read by 1 of 2 musculoskeletal radiologists. Physical examination notes and imaging reports were reviewed by the authors and recorded. Data were analyzed separately for pitchers and position players.
Overall, 219 players (112 pitchers [51%], 107 position players [49%]) were included. The mean age was 20.4 ± 1.5 years. The majority of players (95%) had no current pain or limitations; 54 players (25%) had a history of previous surgery. For pitchers, 18% underwent previous elbow surgery. With regard to MRI, >80% of pitchers had some abnormality within their ulnar collateral ligament (UCL), the majority of which was UCL scarring/remodeling. 70% of pitchers and 60% of position players had evidence of an olecranon osteophyte. Increased signal within the ulnar nerve was common in pitchers (40%) but rare in position players (4%). For the shoulder, 95% of pitchers and 93% of position players had some rotator cuff abnormality (often tendinosis within the supraspinatus and infraspinatus muscles). Also, 75% of pitchers had MRI evidence of a superior labrum anterior to posterior (SLAP) tear, while 24% of position players demonstrated this. Lumbar spine MRI showed that 47% of position players had a disk protrusion and 46% had a previous pars fracture.
Most baseball players who participated in the 2023 MLB Combine had MRI evidence of rotator cuff abnormalities, and many showed evidence of an olecranon osteophyte. Eighteen percent of pitchers had a previous history of elbow surgery. The majority of pitchers had some abnormality within their UCL and evidence of a SLAP tear on MRI scans.
美国职业棒球大联盟（MLB）最近为其未来球员设立了一个综合测试。
目的/假设：本研究的目的是报告美国职业棒球大联盟综合测试的体格检查和影像学检查的初步流行病学结果。研究假设是大多数球员体格检查无明显异常，但大多数球员肩部和肘部磁共振成像（MRI）扫描会有异常结果。
描述性流行病学研究。
纳入所有参加2023年美国职业棒球大联盟综合测试的球员。由美国职业棒球大联盟球队医生进行病史采集和体格检查，并对所有球员进行肩部、肘部、颈椎和腰椎的MRI检查，由两名肌肉骨骼放射科医生中的一名进行解读。作者对体格检查记录和影像学报告进行了审查并记录。分别对投手和非投手球员的数据进行分析。
总共纳入219名球员（112名投手[51%]，107名非投手球员[49%]）。平均年龄为20.4±1.5岁。大多数球员（95%）目前没有疼痛或功能受限；54名球员（25%）有既往手术史。对于投手来说，18%曾接受过肘部手术。关于MRI，超过80%的投手尺侧副韧带（UCL）有某种异常，其中大多数是UCL瘢痕形成/重塑。70%的投手和60%的非投手球员有鹰嘴骨赘的证据。尺神经内信号增强在投手中很常见（40%），但在非投手球员中很少见（4%）。对于肩部，95%的投手和93%的非投手球员有某种肩袖异常（通常是冈上肌和冈下肌的肌腱病）。此外，75%的投手MRI显示有上盂唇从前到后的（SLAP）撕裂，而24%的非投手球员有此表现。腰椎MRI显示，47%的非投手球员有椎间盘突出，46%有既往椎弓峡部裂骨折。
大多数参加2023年美国职业棒球大联盟综合测试的棒球运动员MRI显示有肩袖异常，许多人有鹰嘴骨赘的证据。18%的投手有肘部手术史。大多数投手的UCL有某种异常，MRI扫描显示有SLAP撕裂的证据。
