The battle of playing through your senior season while in pain

By Christopher Sais

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Farmingdale, N.Y. – Senior pitcher Derek Torres at Farmingdale State College has battled adversity throughout his college career due to injuries. He has received multiple arm surgeries, including a major shoulder surgery during his freshman season at St. Thomas Aquinas College. Throughout college, he has had arm pains and is now done worrying about them. He now has a plan to stay on the field and give his team everything he has. Injuries happen all the time, especially when the Spring season comes around, and athletes from all levels face them. The most common injuries in baseball usually involve a player's arm, either from pitching or hitting.

Derek has introduced me to the world’s first-ever dynamic arm support, known as the Kinetic Arm. The kinetic arm was created by Jason Colleran, who used to be a baseball player. The reason for creating this product was due to his career and a bunch of players around him, whose careers were getting cut short due to injury.

This arm stabilizer is perfectly built to support Derek’s shoulder, allowing him to throw without restrictions and experience pain-free movement. I asked Torres, “How has the kinetic arm helped him during this season, even though he has injuries going on?” “He said it gives him the confidence to play even though he has had multiple surgeries and that he has been through pain.”

Professional baseball players are using the kinetic arm, and Torres explained that he is using it for the same reason. Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers dislocated his shoulder in Game 2 of the 2024 World Series against the Yankees. There were rumors that he was wearing the brace, and Torres related to him wanting to help his team as much as possible, with the season coming to an end. Another player, Hunter Dobbins, uses the kinetic arm to reduce arm stress after receiving Tommy John surgery. The arm is used for multiple reasons, but they both relate to Torres.

Torres still goes through his arm care, and he wears his kinetic arm through the process. His warm-up and recovery process includes stretching, rotational band work, and plyo balls. Torres stated that he did a lot of research on the kinetic arm and found out a lot of information from professionals who are using it. Some of the guys use it even if they aren’t injured or have never had surgery. The reason for this is to stay proactive instead of waiting for something to happen.

Torres is set to finish up his senior season, and with the kinetic arm bringing him confidence, he feels that he is at his best ability. Injuries happen to all players, and it is great to see from a college athlete how to balance playing for your team, but also not hurting yourself for the future.