Matt Stevens / Tommy John Surgery / MSU Pitcher

[notsofarawaydawg]

Matt Stevens on pitchers and surgery (http://www.cdispatch.com/sports/article.asp?aid=32765)

[RAYn_Man]

Well Ben Bracewell has never had Tommy John surgery so there's one mistake...

[ShotgunDawg]

Good article, and I have a few thoughts.

1. I am not sure there is an answer to this problem

2. Yes, the radar gun the problem. We are seeing more pitchers throw really hard than ever before. Problem is, there is a very strong correlation between fastball and breaking ball velocity and Major League success. Therefore, good luck getting scouts to put down the radar gun, as, until someone throws "hard enough", it is a very very important part of the evaluation process.

3. Year around baseball is great for hitters and terrible for pitchers, but the hitters can't play unless someone pitches. In the MLB Draft, scouts looks for tools(talent) and polish. At the top of the draft, teams draft players with tools & polish. In the middle of the draft, teams draft players with just tools, and at the back of the draft, teams draft players with just polish. Playing year around does improve the "polish" of young position players and thus improves their draft stock if they have the necessary tools to go along.

Perhaps there needs to be an awesome pitching machine invented that effectively allows young position players to play year around without actually having to have a real pitcher throw to them. Either way, this Tommy John issue is real and is a problem, but MLB could really care less. They don't care about the total number of Tommy John surgeries, they only care about how much money is invested in pitchers that have Tommy John surgery.

[Todd4State]

The body is simply not made to throw overhand. With all of these injuries, I have to wonder if what we're doing at MSU by piggy backing starters is going to start to become the norm. The old conventional and current thinking is you want starters that can go 7-9 innings but as far as health, it's not really that smart of a thing. So, spreading the workload out may help a little bit. You have your starter that pitches 3-4 innings, and then a guy like a Lindgren goes 2-3 and then you start to get into your set-up guys and your closers.

Of course part of the problem is you have these old timers who call the current pitchers pussies because back in 1977 they could throw 9 innings and 150 pitches every time out.

Other than Ross, our pitchers typically throw around 50-60 pitches.

As a health professional, people have to understand to that everyone's body is different. It looks the same in the textbook, but when you open the hood, it's different. And part of the problem is people in baseball have taken 120 pitches as the "magic number" for everyone, and that's not good. Everyone has a different workload that they can handle. If you're 6'5" 225 you can more than likely handle more than a guy that is 6'0" 180. If you have a guy with a max effort delivery, he's not going to be able to throw as long as a guy like Chris Stratton who has a very simple and easy delivery.

I think that they have to start focusing more on player's core strengthening and leg strengthening as well. And another good preventive measure would be for MLB to have a program where they teach these coaches how to teach proper pitching mechanics as well as routines for pitchers. Sometimes that's part of the problem as well. And I think MLB is partly to blame for that because for years it always seems like it's- well, look what that dumbass high school coach is doing. Well, teach him the right way to do it.

[Coach34]

1. In talking with an orthopedic surgeon from Arkansas last week, he mentioned to me Andrews writing an article about surgeons being too quick to perform Tommy John surgery. Said it's become an epidemic and needs to be scaled back some- with more rehab and rest being tried first in younger players.

2. I've always said a CB doesnt put any extra stress on your arm when thrown properly. Glad they proved me correct.

3. I didnt appreciate Ratt Stevens trying to say in the piece that something was wrong with our pitching program and our staff was causing injuries.

4. The number of games young kid play today is insane. Fallball before the college level needs to go.

5. #mlbdraft

[RAYn_Man]

Matt Stevens is the absolute worst.

[Todd4State]

Matt Stevens is the absolute worst.

His defense is "I'm not a fan".

[preachermatt83]

there is nothing about Matt Stevens that makes him worth my time to even read something he has written. I wish badly that he would move to Alaska.

[rcsteph1]

So just so everyone knows, He probably was waiting to watch the braves game yesterday afternoon. Prior to the game they ran a special on Dr Andrews and the difference he has made with this surgery. Emphasis was placed on the things Andrews has done and money he has spent to prevent these injuries from happening in young baseball players. Basically said Andrews is responsible for pitch counts in little league today. Good Show, however I didn't read his article.

[engie]

Stevens article. No click.

What magically happened this year to cause all these arm injuries -- when we almost went unscathed the last 2 years, outside of Woody having a nagging injury from summer ball?

The law of averages is what happened. Simply caught up with us -- combined with some bad luck. Someone holler back at me when Butch is throwing guys 140 pitches twice a week and/or giving our guys the McNickle treatment. Until then -- it's in everybody's best interest to ignore Stevens and let him disappear into a hole.