Ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) reconstruction surgery is common in baseball players. In fact, the procedure is even nicknamed Tommy John surgery, after the MLB pitcher who was the first to have it back in the 1970s. So when Atlanta Braves pitcher Spencer Strider had to have the surgery back in 2019, he wasn’t surprised. But he did take the rest and recovery as an opportunity to overhaul certain parts of his life. He decided to try a vegan diet and was impressed by the benefits.
“I had blood pressure that I was medicated for, [which] I always thought was a little peculiar for a 20-year-old. I had issues sleeping,” he told The Guardian. He added: “I decided one day to try it and, within two weeks, I was off the hypertension medicine.”
Strider isn’t alone. Many athletes, including baseball players, have chosen to switch to a plant-based diet for health reasons. Back in 2018, New York Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia said that following a raw vegan diet helped him keep up with the younger players on the pitch. “I know if I can stay healthy and stay on the field, I can put up the numbers and good things will happen,” he said at the time.
In 2022, Leones de Yucatán pitcher Ryan Sheriff told Forks Over Knives that following a plant-based diet made him feel stronger than ever. “My strength is through the roof now, and I can last forever in my workouts,” he said. “My recovery is great. But the biggest takeaway for me is that my mood changed.”
Spencer Strider / Instagram
The bigger picture
For Strider, though, being vegan is about more than diet. “I think factory farming is certainly problematic and not exactly what we’re supposed to be doing to the planet,” he said.
Indeed, research suggests that factory farming, a system of intensive, industrialized animal agriculture, is a leading source of greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, and water pollution. In 2022, research from the University of Bonn in Germany suggested that meat consumption must drop by 75 percent in wealthier countries to meet global climate goals.
Strider is pragmatic in his approach to encouraging others to reduce their animal intake. “I’m very conscious to the idea that any improvement, while it may seem insignificant, is still worthwhile,” he continued.
“For me, it’s easier to be fully plant-based, but I think everybody can have a marginal improvement [around the ethics of the meat industry] that would, collectively, be great for the environment and the planet.”
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Charlotte is a VegNews editor and writer based in sunny Southsea on England's southern coast.
