Analysis of the Injuries of Korean Professional Baseball Players during the Regular Season: A Pilot Study

Abstract

PURPOSE This pilot study aimed to provide descriptive statistics regarding injuries among baseball players in the Korean baseball organization (KBO) league. METHODS Exposure and injury data were collected from 49 professional baseball players in a single team who participated in official games during the 2021 KBO league season. Injury data included injured body parts, injury mechanisms, injury diagnoses, activities, playing positions, and time-loss (TL). Injury rates (IRs) were calculated using the athletic-exposure (AE) and time-exposure (TE) methods. RESULTS In total, 158 injuries were reported during the study period. The overall IR was 58.0 per 1,000 AE and 5.3 per 1,000 exposure times (TE). Approximately 68.4% of all injuries were non-TL (NTL) injuries, and which was approximately 2.2 times higher than TL injuries. Among TL injuries, 70.0% accounted for 1 day to less than 1 week, followed by more than 3 weeks (16.0%) and lasting more than 1 week to less than 3 weeks (14.0%) respectively. Trunk and spine were the most frequently injured body parts (21.5%), followed by arms and elbows (12.7%), thighs (11.4%), and feet (8.2%) in order. The majority of the TL injury mechanisms were noncontact (40.4%) and overuse (26.0%) with strain during pitching and base running. The majority of the NTL injury mechanisms were ball contact (73.2%) with contusions during batting and catching. CONCLUSIONS Professional KBO baseball players experienced a high rate of TL injuries during official games. The majority of TL injury mechanisms were noncontact and overuse, and two-fifths of TL injuries were reported by pitchers and base runners.

Keywords

• korea baseball league
• professional baseball player
• injury rate
• injury epidemiology