New Mask Aims To Reduce Catcher Injuries

In an 11-year catching career as a pro, Tyler Flowers has never been diagnosed with a concussion. He’s sure he’s had one, maybe two. Maybe it happened when he was playing high school football. But one thing was certain: Flowers knew not enough was being done to protect catchers.

“In all of the impact sports, (concussions) have been a hot topic,” the Braves catcher said. “(But) catcher’s gear has been the same for all of our lives. It’s a shame it took us this long to get to this point.”

The May 2011 encounter with Scott Cousins that left Buster Posey with a broken leg and ended his season woke baseball up to home-plate collisions. Rule 7.13 was implemented and now bans most of those collisions.

But what baseball—and catchers—have found is that concussions are not just caused by collisions.

MLB has made concessions to concussions since 2011, installing concussion protocols similar to NFL rules in which players are evaluated before being allowed to return to action. In addition, there is now a 7-day disabled list just to allow concussed players to recover.

The next logical step was equipment improvements. In 2014, a year and a half after pitcher Brendan McCarthy, then with the Athletics, had his skull fractured by a line drive, MLB approved a padded cap for pitchers to protect against line drives back to the mound. Manufactured by the 4Licensing Corp. subsidiary isoBlox, the cap is outsized and unwieldy and just one player—Braves lefthanded reliever Alex Torres—has chosen to wear it.

Catchers in recent years have seen some equipment alternatives emerge. Many now use a hockey goalie-style mask, eschewing the traditional steel cage mask for one that has fuller head covering. But that hasn’t stopped catchers from being concussed.

Whether it’s bigger, stronger players making harder contact against pitchers throwing with greater velocity, or simply better and more accurate reporting by players and team doctors, there’s a higher-than-ever incidence of mild traumatic brain injuries (MTBIs) in today’s game. And most of them involve catchers.

According to a study published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine and conducted by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health—using data collected by researchers who looked through MLB’s electronic medical record system, with the consent of players—there were 41 reported MTBIs in the major leagues and 266 in the minor leagues over the two-year period under study, meaning 2011-12.

According to the study, mild traumatic brain injuries accounted for one percent of all injuries that resulted in players missing games. For MTBIs that happened in the field of play, “catchers were significantly overrepresented,” according to the study.

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The study also found that, for both the majors and minors, most MTBIs took place at home plate, with 49.6 percent in the minors and 46.3 percent in the majors. Most of those (40 percent minors/53 percent majors) involved catchers fielding their position.

That’s where Flowers and Force3 Pro Gear, a company that specializes in protective catching equipment, come in. The Derby, Conn.-based company was founded by Jason Klein, who, as a former minor league umpire, had a direct sightline to these injuries.

“I’ve been hit plenty of times, but I never expected to make equipment for players,” Klein said. He started out making equipment for fellow umpires, but when he developed a mask, he realized the crossover potential.

The most prominent of Force3’s gear is its Force3 Defender, a spring-loaded face mask the company says absorbs up to 75 percent more force than a conventional mask.

“When people see this, there’s zero consumer education you’d have to do,” Klein said. “If you pick it up and can’t tell why it’s better, our mask is probably not for you.”

Approved by MLB this spring, Flowers was the first to sign on to wear the mask.

Flowers was set up to talk with Klein by his agents, O’Connell Sports Management. He knew nothing about the company, but was willing to roll the dice.

“I thought, ‘how in the world is it going to be worse than anything else we’ve had the past 100 years?”’ said Flowers, who took a small, undisclosed stake in the company. “Once you feel the springs and push on it, you’d be pretty dumb if you don’t think it’s better. It’s astonishing when you see how much it absorbs the ball. It just falls down to the ground” after it hits the catcher’s mask.

The mask—which costs about $150, on par with what the conventional masks cost—is equipped with Force3’s proprietary S3 Shock Suspension System, basically several small springs around the mask. There’s also a foam pad lined with Kevlar that helps to disperse the energy created, for example, by a foul ball.

More importantly, especially to Flowers and his brethren, it functions the same and weighs the same as the conventional steel-bar cage mask.

Flowers tried a prototype in the spring and went through 5-6 fittings to adjust pads, size and thickness.

“It fit better than any mask I’ve worn,” he said. “The space above and below your eyes is something you’ll notice, because your vision is a little better.”

Force3’s gear has been approved for use by MLB, although Flowers was dubious about that.

“The approval process in MLB is not much of a process at all. I don’t know if there’s any certification,” he said. “But I saw the test results (conducted by Intertek and ICS Labs and approved by the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment).”

He’s also seen it in action.

“I’ve already taken a couple of good shots in it,” he said. “Being able to wear a piece of equipment that gives me the best chance of reducing or eliminating a head injury is very exciting. It will be a game-changer for young athletes.”

The Rays have purchased four masks for their major and minor league catchers, Klein said, and the mask is being worn by several minor leaguers, Flowers said. Some of his contemporaries are trying to switch over, but need to escape current contracts to do so.

One player who was impressed early in the process was Yale-educated Braves catcher Ryan Lavarnway. Klein was in spring training this February when Lavarnway spotted him and the mask and asked about it.

Curious, Lavarnway gave the mask a spin, purposely taking a couple of hard shots to the face.

“He said he didn’t feel hardly anything,” Klein said. “’My parents paid for my education, I need to protect my head,”’ Lavarnaway told Klein.

The Eastern College Athletic Conference, which has Division III baseball members, just became the first collegiate league to sign on to use Force3 Pro Gear equipment.

The mask is available in the standard form as well as the hockey-mask type, which retails at about $169 to $179. The other Force3 gear includes shin guards and a chest protector lined in Kevlar, the stronger-than-steel product probably best known for use in body armor, particularly bulletproof vests.

That equipment is also superior to current equipment, Flowers said, weighing less and absorbing more of the impact. The way the ball just falls to the ground after hitting the shin guard or chest protector could lead to fewer wild pitches and passed balls, since it deadens upon contact.

With concerns about safety in all sports at an all-time high—baseball for example, extended protective netting to ensure fan safety—Force3’s introduction of its products is timely, Flowers said.

“These are great options for parents. I understand the fear,” he said. “I’m a father of three. (Injuries) are something parents worry about.

“Catching is something I’m passionate about. I want to prolong my career as long as possible. But I’m also hoping to create something for when I’m done, and share my knowledge.

“The possibility of reducing head injuries is something I just couldn’t ignore.”