In August of 2019, Aaron Sanchez exited his fourth start as a member of the Houston Astros with discomfort in his right shoulder. Before the injury-shortened start, he was experiencing one of the better stretches of his big-league pitching career; just a couple weeks prior, Sanchez completed the first two-thirds of the Astros’ combined no-hitter against the Mariners. Unfortunately for Sanchez, an MRI revealed that the discomfort was actually one of the rarest and most severe injuries that can happen to an overhand thrower: a torn capsule.
Though the specifics of Sanchez’s shoulder situation have been somewhat murky, a torn capsule is usually associated with a labral tear that results in some anterior (front side) shoulder pain and a complete inability to throw.