Realistic baseball expectations

[Todd4State]

[QUOTE=basedog;689618]

Brian Neal is still the strength coach- but I don't think he's the problem.[/QUOTE

So many young arms, whatever it is I sure hope it's fixed now.

IMO it's the same thing that is causing everyone else to have Tommy John surgery- too much pitching in travel ball, only focusing on baseball and not playing other sports in a few cases, etc.

Neal has been the same guy- but we have changed programs three times in the past three years- two that affected the current class the most and I do think that may have had some impact to be honest. But I don't think there is just one cause.

[Commercecomet24]

[QUOTE=Todd4State;689657]

IMO it's the same thing that is causing everyone else to have Tommy John surgery- too much pitching in travel ball, only focusing on baseball and not playing other sports in a few cases, etc.

Neal has been the same guy- but we have changed programs three times in the past three years- two that affected the current class the most and I do think that may have had some impact to be honest. But I don't think there is just one cause.

This is correct. It's not just one cause but the serious contributing factor is playing too much Baseball. These kids are throwing to many pitches at to young an age. I've been coaching travel ball for 15 years and the majority of these travel coaches are killing these young arms. We faced a team from Florida in the first tournament of the year last year, 14U. Championship game coach threw his pitcher 7 innings 140 pitches. That's the biggest problem now. Absolutely insane overuse on a lot of them.
These kids are damaged to some degree before we ever get em on campus.

[I seen it dawg]

Gonna see a lot more arm injuries everywhere before it's slows down. Too many stupid parents.

[lamont]

Travel teams are certainly wearing down pitchers. Too much mileage on incoming freshmen every year

[Steakonastick]

To me it's two problems.

1. Kids are pitching way to much. Perfect example my old boss his son is 16 and he just had tommy John. The kid was playing travel ball year round plus rec ball stage 10-12. The arm has to take a break. I'm amazed at how many coaches and dad's think they know more then James Andrews.

2. The human arm can only throw so hard mechanically before it breaks down. Kids are bigger then ever before and everybody is in love with the radar gun. Also, most throwing programs are now incorporating weighted throws. You are not going to get the increases that Johnson got without hurting a few kids.

[basedog]

Gonna see a lot more arm injuries everywhere before it's slows down. Too many stupid parents.

Amen brother on stupid parents. It isn't just baseball, but soccer, softball, basketball, dance/cheerleader.......
My oldest daughter and her family stay on the road with 2 girls and a son. They don't have time to be kids if you know what I mean.

[Todd4State]

To me it's two problems.

1. Kids are pitching way to much. Perfect example my old boss his son is 16 and he just had tommy John. The kid was playing travel ball year round plus rec ball stage 10-12. The arm has to take a break. I'm amazed at how many coaches and dad's think they know more then James Andrews.

2. The human arm can only throw so hard mechanically before it breaks down. Kids are bigger then ever before and everybody is in love with the radar gun. Also, most throwing programs are now incorporating weighted throws. You are not going to get the increases that Johnson got without hurting a few kids.

Exactly. The thing about Tommy John is it's a "repetitive motion injury". It's not that one game that one time against D'Lo High School in the playoffs where a kid threw 150 pitches. It's a sum of throwing high pitch counts and not getting enough rest between starts over and over again plus that game against D'Lo HS that all add up.

On point two- if Arkansas has a lot of pitchers go down with Tommy John I think then an assumption could possibly be made then, but we'll see.

[bulldogcountry1]

I'm not ready to be all doom and gloom yet due the injuries, though it's starting to get concerning.

I think the hitting will be just fine. We have a lot of experience, and Coggin has shown that he knows how to coach hitting. Add in Canny's experience, and we should be in good shape.

Obviously, the pitching is the question. I'm curious to see what Henderson does with the staff. Like any other team, you have to rely on newcomers to make an impact. I think that's really what is going to dictate how the season goes. Can 2-3 new guys eat innings? We still have a lot of arms, despite the injuries, and it's not like we're losing juniors. These are freshmen and sophomores with mostly midweek experience, if any. We might lose a couple that we shouldn't early on trying to find out what everyone's role is, but the talent should kick in, eventually.

[TStationDawg]

[QUOTE=Commercecomet24;689700]

This is correct. It's not just one cause but the serious contributing factor is playing too much Baseball. These kids are throwing to many pitches at to young an age. I've been coaching travel ball for 15 years and the majority of these travel coaches are killing these young arms. We faced a team from Florida in the first tournament of the year last year, 14U. Championship game coach threw his pitcher 7 innings 140 pitches. That's the biggest problem now. Absolutely insane overuse on a lot of them.
These kids are damaged to some degree before we ever get em on campus.

Yep- and that's if he only plays on that ONE travel team, which is doubtful.
Parent's need to step in or at least have an understanding with coaches before season starts. No single TRAVEL ball game/championship is worth that. Heck, not even Omaha is worth it if the kids got a future (looking at you Ben McDonald). Coaches need to be responsible yes, but so do parents- that's YOUR kid! Protect them for crying out loud!

[TStationDawg]

Gonna see a lot more arm injuries everywhere before it's slows down. Too many stupid parents.

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to I seen it dawg again.

[State82]

Gonna see a lot more arm injuries everywhere before it's slows down. Too many stupid parents.

Nailed it

[Homedawg]

Well remember this, you can only have 35 on roster 27 on baseball aid and 8 not. Any of those that got hurt that are on scholarship count against the 35. So we will start the year w less than 35 no matter how you shake it.

[WPS]

Exactly. The thing about Tommy John is it's a "repetitive motion injury". It's not that one game that one time against D'Lo High School in the playoffs where a kid threw 150 pitches. It's a sum of throwing high pitch counts and not getting enough rest between starts over and over again plus that game against D'Lo HS that all add up.

On point two- if Arkansas has a lot of pitchers go down with Tommy John I think then an assumption could possibly be made then, but we'll see.

-

Bo Mattingly
‏@SportsTalkwBo
Ark junior pitcher Keaton McKinney has an elbow injury that will require Tommy John surgery. Expected to miss the 2017 season per U of A.

[preachermatt83]

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There is no question in my mind the Johnson is destroying arms.

[Homedawg]

Gonna see a lot more arm injuries everywhere before it's slows down. Too many stupid parents.

This all day

[Homedawg]

There is no question in my mind the Johnson is destroying arms.

I can't base this on our injuries at present, however, it's certainly something to watch and see if becomes a trend. W that said, Ethan small was a walking arm injury, his mechanics were awful, herky jerky and all over the place, violent. Keegan? Not so much....good thing to watch for sure

[I seen it dawg]

This all day

****ing dumbass camp kids now daddys....lol.

"Son here's your camp evaluation...first thing you need to do is take 2 weeks off...then quit the game."

[Coursesuper]

****ing dumbass camp kids now daddys....lol.

"Son here's your camp evaluation...first thing you need to do is take 2 weeks off...then quit the game."

You have no idea how close to true that statement is, have a 16 and 13 year old I've seen this 100 times, these morons are pushing kids from the time they are 7, it's all about daddy.

[Homedawg]

****ing dumbass camp kids now daddys....lol.

"Son here's your camp evaluation...first thing you need to do is take 2 weeks off...then quit the game."

Yep. I'm sure you miss the days of spaz!!

[AlSwearengen]

I was talking baseball with a couple of young guys (21-23) a few days ago and they were talking about different friends of their's or kids they played against that had tommy john surgery when they were in the ninth/tenth/eleventh grades. None of which anyone has ever heard about because they didn't go any further than maybe juco, so it seems to be very prevalent.