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

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.