The former American League MVP made it clear to TMZ Sports this week he thinks it's analytics -- not adjustments to timing pitchers -- that's creating elbow woes.

He explained he thinks the obsession with velocity and spin rates has caused pitchers to stop, you know, pitching ... and focus solely on unloading the gas tank on every throw instead.

"When you're out there giving max effort every pitch," he said, "you are going to get hurt. That's my philosophy behind it."

Vaughn says years ago -- before Sabermetrics and Statcast had a stranglehold on MLB execs -- guys would just cruise at lower velos ... before ratcheting it up in big moments when they needed the explosive pitches.

Don't get it twisted, though, Vaughn says there's definitely a place for analytics in the game .. it just "can't be end-all, be-all."

In case you missed it ... a bunch of studs have gone down with arm injuries in the last few weeks -- including Gerrit Cole, Spencer Strider and Shane Bieber. Things got so bad, the MLB Players Association actually came out and said it believed the league's tinkering with the pitch clock was to blame.

But, like Vaughn, most of the guys weren't ready to go that far yet ... with Bieber saying just this week he thinks he got hurt for a variety of other reasons.

As for what Vaughn's been up to these days, the 56-year-old former first baseman told us he's been working closely with his Vaughn Sports Academy and scouting service Perfect Game to try and help the development of high school baseball players across the country.