Nick Hundley is the type of baseball player I like. Someone who has worked on his craft and exploited every chance he’s had to move up in the game. This is why it’s a shame to see him suffering an injury that puts him on the disabled list.
Nick is suffering from the pulled oblique muscle. While in the past we’ve handled how to treat a pulled oblique, this time I thought it would be interesting to dissect the effects of a pulled oblique on a catcher.
Nick has said:
I knew it was bad, but I was optimistic until I woke up today. If I had to go tonight, I couldn’t. And with an oblique strain there’s always the chance of making it worse. There are guys out there with oblique strains who haven’t played this year. I can look at myself in the mirror and say I gave myself the best chance of this not happening. I’ve worked hard to be in the best shape I can be in”
The oblique muscles are on the sides of your body and anchor your rib cage to your abdomen. Twist your upper body as you’re sitting and your obliques are doing most of the heavy lifting.
Catchers are particularly affected by oblique strains for the following to reasons:
1) Catchers are usually in a squatting position: This means that most of their efforts and actions are controlled and driven by the upper body, which is the obliques.
2) Catchers through on almost every play of the game: The oblique is used to throw the baseball as it moves the arm across the body to generate force. A catcher can do this hundreds of times a game.
Are catchers more susceptible to oblique pulls? I cannot find anything related to this medical study wise, but it wouldn’t surprise me.