Wes Johnson

[msstate7]

Watching Arkansas-bama and the announcers are really praising Wes. Saying he's an up-and-comer who's on the cutting edge using weighted balls and such. They then mention 3 pitchers out for Arkansas. Are all 3 TJ? If so, did they get injured after Wes took over? There was no mention of the destruction Wes did here.

Right or wrong, I put a lot of blame on Wes for destroying our staff which would've been one of the best in the country. I want Wes to be questioned about our injury issues. If he's responsible, I want Wes blackballed before he ruins more arms

[WSOPdawg]

And recruits need to know and be aware as well.

[confucius say]

I don't know if it was Wes's fault or someone else's, but somebody is to blame. 7 TJs is not a coincidence.

[msstate7]

I don't know if it was Wes's fault or someone else's, but somebody is to blame. 7 TJs is not a coincidence.

If the 3 are ark are TJ since Wes took over, that's 10

[confucius say]

If the 3 are ark are TJ since Wes took over, that's 10

True. That ain't a coincidence.

[Bully13]

What wrong things does a pitching coach do to cause TJ? over pitch them?

[msstate7]

What wrong things does a pitching coach do to cause TJ? over pitch them?

Having them pitch bowling balls** Weighted balls really could be the culprit

[ShotgunDawg]

Ugh, not this again. Of the 3 Arkansas guys that are out, one has been hurt for 2 years, another is a max effort reliever with awful mechanics, & the other may have been bothered by what Wes does with weighted balls.

You guys act like what Wes does is some kind of crime or something without even mentioning that we've gone through 3 pitching coaches in less than a year. In a nutshell, here is the reputation that each one of them have for how they coach pitchers.

Butch - pitchability, marathon
Wes - Power, sprinter
Henderson - Pitchability, marathon

So basically, in less that a year we did the equivalent of training the pitch by doing yoga, ulimate crossfit, and back to yoga.

Is there anything wrong with what Wes does? I really don't think so. I believe much of our problems are due to having three different pitching coaches in under a year with drastically different training regiments & styles.

If I was to question Wes on one thing, I do wonder if he ramped our guys up too quickly in the Fall of 2016. Remember, he didn't come over till October at the end of Fall practice & basically had to convert our pitching staff to his style extremely quick. Turns out, it worked as many pitchers improved, however, maybe he tried to do it all too quickly. If Butch would've gotten hired in the Summer of 2016 at Auburn & Wes has August & September to more slowly implement his beliefs, perhaps things may have been different.

That being said, the bitterness & constant unsubstantiated, witch hunt is ridiculous. Wes has Arkansas' pitching staff rolling & he's an outstanding pitching coach.

[msstate7]

Ugh, not this again. Of the 3 Arkansas guys that are out, one has been hurt for 2 years, another is a max effort reliever with awful mechanics, & the other may have been bothered by what Wes does with weighted balls.

You guys act like what Wes does is some kind of crime or something without even mentioning that we've gone through 3 pitching coaches in less than a year. In a nutshell, here is the reputation that each one of them have for how they coach pitchers.

Butch - pitchability, marathon
Wes - Power, sprinter
Henderson - Pitchability, marathon

So basically, in less that a year we did the equivalent of training the pitch by doing yoga, ulimate crossfit, and back to yoga.

Is there anything wrong with what Wes does? I really don't think so. I believe much of our problems are due to having three different pitching coaches in under a year with drastically different training regiments & styles.

If I was to question Wes on one thing, I do wonder if he ramped our guys up too quickly in the Fall of 2016. Remember, he didn't come over till October at the end of Fall practice & basically had to convert our pitching staff to his style extremely quick. Turns out, it worked as many pitchers improved, however, maybe he tried to do it all too quickly. If Butch would've gotten hired in the Summer of 2016 at Auburn & Wes has August & September to more slowly implement his beliefs, perhaps things may have been different.

That being said, the bitterness & constant unsubstantiated, witch hunt is ridiculous. Wes has Arkansas' pitching staff rolling & he's an outstanding pitching coach.

So in less words you're saying Wes isn't responsible, but he could be.

[The Federalist Engineer]

We can talk about Wes next March, hopefully Arkansas has 8 TJ and 2 full amputations

[msstate7]

Ugh, not this again. Of the 3 Arkansas guys that are out, one has been hurt for 2 years, another is a max effort reliever with awful mechanics, & the other may have been bothered by what Wes does with weighted balls.

You guys act like what Wes does is some kind of crime or something without even mentioning that we've gone through 3 pitching coaches in less than a year. In a nutshell, here is the reputation that each one of them have for how they coach pitchers.

Butch - pitchability, marathon
Wes - Power, sprinter
Henderson - Pitchability, marathon

So basically, in less that a year we did the equivalent of training the pitch by doing yoga, ulimate crossfit, and back to yoga.

Is there anything wrong with what Wes does? I really don't think so. I believe much of our problems are due to having three different pitching coaches in under a year with drastically different training regiments & styles.

If I was to question Wes on one thing, I do wonder if he ramped our guys up too quickly in the Fall of 2016. Remember, he didn't come over till October at the end of Fall practice & basically had to convert our pitching staff to his style extremely quick. Turns out, it worked as many pitchers improved, however, maybe he tried to do it all too quickly. If Butch would've gotten hired in the Summer of 2016 at Auburn & Wes has August & September to more slowly implement his beliefs, perhaps things may have been different.

That being said, the bitterness & constant unsubstantiated, witch hunt is ridiculous. Wes has Arkansas' pitching staff rolling & he's an outstanding pitching coach.

Which ones of our TJ crew were really coached by 3 pitching coaches? Small, james, Padgett, ford, breaux, and Hughes were freshmen last year. Smith was a juco transfer last season.

[yjnkdawg]

Having them pitch bowling balls** Weighted balls really could be the culprit


I think over pitching when younger and not good pitching techniques, by depending more on their arm for more velocity, instead of having good pitching techinques, by using their legs to help keep the pressure off their elbow and arm. Then they get the weighted balls and a double whammy.

[Homedawg]

Which ones of our TJ crew were really coached by 3 pitching coaches? Small, james, Padgett, ford, breaux, and Hughes were freshmen last year. Smith was a juco transfer last season.

The jury is still out. Should the eyes be on Wes? Yeah I guess. But to say he's the responsible one is just short sighted. Too many factors to say, yeah, he's it.

[Todd4State]

Well, I think we can say with certainty that Ford and Marze are not on Johnson. Ford had surgery before Wes got here and Marze had his in junior college.

Another thing to keep in mind is one of our signees who played on the same travel ball team as a lot of our other recruits who are injured but went pro instead of to MSU had Tommy John this past season.

I mean- it could be just shitty luck. There is that chance too. When a travel ball team has a guy that is a SEC recruit or is a legit draft prospect like a lot of our recruits are- those are the guys that pitch a lot in travel ball and have the high leverage situation more often than not in travel ball and high school. That's why you see more Tommy John surgeries in the SEC than maybe some of the other conferences.

[NewDawg]

Having them pitch bowling balls** Weighted balls really could be the culprit

....throwing weighted balls alone and allowing arm slots to drop putting more stress on elbow.

[NewDawg]

most of those pitchers came in with good mechanics and had protected their arms. All you have to do is go back to fall ball and see how good they were. It fell apart with WJ. You can't throw weighted balls every day. That's #1. You can't throw them for extended periods of time. That's #2. Pitchers have to be supervised when throwing them to maintain good mechanics. That's #3. Seven guys with TJ in one year is ridiculous no matter what program you are at or who the coach is. WJ should have to answer for our 7 and Ark. 3. I have heard there are others that are nursing elbows so there may be more than 3.

[Todd4State]

most of those pitchers came in with good mechanics and had protected their arms. All you have to do is go back to fall ball and see how good they were. It fell apart with WJ. You can't throw weighted balls every day. That's #1. You can't throw them for extended periods of time. That's #2. Pitchers have to be supervised when throwing them to maintain good mechanics. That's #3. Seven guys with TJ in one year is ridiculous no matter what program you are at or who the coach is. WJ should have to answer for our 7 and Ark. 3. I have heard there are others that are nursing elbows so there may be more than 3.

Others at Arkansas? Or MSU?

[smootness]

Well, I think we can say with certainty that Ford and Marze are not on Johnson. Ford had surgery before Wes got here and Marze had his in junior college.

I haven't seen anyone put Ford on Johnson. And I've seen Marze listed at times, but I think the primary guys we're talking about are Small, Padgett, James, Hughes, Breaux, and Smith.

Look, the bottom line is, we have an inordinate and possibly unprecedented number of pitchers out for the year, especially having TJ surgery. Could it all be incredibly bad luck? It's possible. Could it be an issue with instruction? I would argue that is definitely more likely. But we won't ever know for sure. If Johnson goes on to great things at Arkansas or wherever else and doesn't have these issues pop up again, then it will be tough to pin it on him.

But there is pretty strong evidence that velocity is correlated with an increase in TJ likelihood. And Johnson teaches velocity above all and almost certainly more frequent max effort than most coaches. So it's not really a groundbreaking thing to suggest that Johnson's methods are going to lead to a higher likelihood of serious injury and TJ. The question is just how much more likely you can expect it to be, and how much of our current issues he can be blamed for.

I really don't get the 'if there's any criticism of him, it's that he ramped up his program too quickly' as just a minor complaint. If that happened, that is a huge problem. It would be irresponsible and would almost certainly be the reason we are in our current position. I don't know if he did that, but if he did, he's a danger to any team for which he coaches because it means he will cut corners to the detriment of his pitchers for his own sake.

And in the yoga/crossfit/yoga example, that doesn't seem like it would be a problem at all...unless the crossfit trainer tried to go 100 mph right out of the gate. Yoga will increase flexibility, core strength, etc. so it should make you more likely to adapt well to crossfit; the only problem would come in if you tried to go too heavy on the crossfit immediately...and yes, that would almost certainly lead to injury and muscle tears.

But doing yoga before crossfit seems like a better way to ease into crossfit than just jumping straight in. In the same way, instruction toward pitchability and endurance should not make it harder to begin instruction toward velocity and strength. It should be building up some of the strength necessary for that kind of training. But that kind of training will always lead to a higher likelihood of injury, and that risk is exponentially increased if there are corners cut in that process.

[ShotgunDawg]

Please post less. Your just looking ignorant.


Or it just could be that we had 3 pitching coaches in less than year that all have different styles and training regiments. Additionally, we hired Johnson in October and gave him less time to implement his system than a normal pitching coach would ever get.

Keep up the witch hunt though. It makes you look brilliant when Wes is about to coach his 2nd straight SEC Championship team and have 2 pitchers go in the top 5 rounds of the draft.

[BB30]

Most arm injuries if not caused by poor mechanics, are often caused by tiredness. Obviously being over pitched at a young age can play a role. Basically, when the muscles wear down and are tired the body subconsciously makes up for that by putting more stress on the ligaments in the shoulder and elbow to create the same desired outcome. That is why you hear a lot of people talk about how many stressful pitches/innings the guy has thrown in that game/season/. By stressful I mean pitches thrown with runners in scoring position.

I honestly think it was probably just a mix of really really bad luck and some guys arms weren't ready for the pay load. As stated above, several of these guys were freshman last year. Not every freshman is used to lifting weights several days a week and the amount of throwing that is done in a college week. That creates tired arms. Throw on top of a tired body and arm a weighted ball program and that may have been enough to snap the camels back.

[Johnson85]

Watching Arkansas-bama and the announcers are really praising Wes. Saying he's an up-and-comer who's on the cutting edge using weighted balls and such. They then mention 3 pitchers out for Arkansas. Are all 3 TJ? If so, did they get injured after Wes took over? There was no mention of the destruction Wes did here.

Right or wrong, I put a lot of blame on Wes for destroying our staff which would've been one of the best in the country. I want Wes to be questioned about our injury issues. If he's responsible, I want Wes blackballed before he ruins more arms

It's not like nobody knew what Wes Johnson was doing. If what he was doing was so obviously going to ruin people's arms, then Cohen would be to blame too.
People should definitely be questioning his techniques at this point based on what has happened to our staff, but even if it turns out his training did largely contribute to the injuries, he doesn't need to be "blackballed" for it.

But the reality is we'll probably never know whether it was luck or his training, because unless he is a madman or a zealot for his training techniques, he's probably already dialed them back, because not changing his techniques and having another rash of injuries like MSU's this year probablyh would end his career.

So he's probably already dialed it back, everybody is going to keep seeing a lot of TJ issues because of how ridiculous travel ball has gotten, and we're never going to be able to determine just how much he contributed to the problem at MSU this year.

[ShotgunDawg]

It's not like nobody knew what Wes Johnson was doing. If what he was doing was so obviously going to ruin people's arms, then Cohen would be to blame too.
People should definitely be questioning his techniques at this point based on what has happened to our staff, but even if it turns out his training did largely contribute to the injuries, he doesn't need to be "blackballed" for it.

But the reality is we'll probably never know whether it was luck or his training, because unless he is a madman or a zealot for his training techniques, he's probably already dialed them back, because not changing his techniques and having another rash of injuries like MSU's this year probablyh would end his career.

So he's probably already dialed it back, everybody is going to keep seeing a lot of TJ issues because of how ridiculous travel ball has gotten, and we're never going to be able to determine just how much he contributed to the problem at MSU this year.

Actually he hasn't dailed it back. Arkansas is going to win the SEC title and he'll have 2 pitchers make a combined 2 million dollars.

Move on people. It's dumb and ignorant to keep him your enemy. He's a damn good pitching coach.

[Todd4State]

It's not like nobody knew what Wes Johnson was doing. If what he was doing was so obviously going to ruin people's arms, then Cohen would be to blame too.
People should definitely be questioning his techniques at this point based on what has happened to our staff, but even if it turns out his training did largely contribute to the injuries, he doesn't need to be "blackballed" for it.

But the reality is we'll probably never know whether it was luck or his training, because unless he is a madman or a zealot for his training techniques, he's probably already dialed them back, because not changing his techniques and having another rash of injuries like MSU's this year probablyh would end his career.

So he's probably already dialed it back, everybody is going to keep seeing a lot of TJ issues because of how ridiculous travel ball has gotten, and we're never going to be able to determine just how much he contributed to the problem at MSU this year.

I may be naive but I think Tommy John surgery will actually decrease because people are getting more and more educated about it and what causes it but I think it will be a few years before we really see the decrease because the studies are only a year or two old right now.

[ShotgunDawg]

I may be naive but I think Tommy John surgery will actually decrease because people are getting more and more educated about it and what causes it but I think it will be a few years before we really see the decrease because the studies are only a year or two old right now.

Maybe...... Arm injuries are extremely difficult to prevent, & many of them are caused by pitchers with bad mechanics getting tired. It's not necessarily one or the other but the combination that is mostly problematic.

Problem is, bad athletes with poor mechanics will always want to throw harder. So they'll get tired & get hurt.

[Todd4State]

Maybe...... Arm injuries are extremely difficult to prevent, & many of them are caused by pitchers with bad mechanics getting tired. It's not necessarily one or the other but the combination that is mostly problematic.

Problem is, bad athletes with poor mechanics will always want to throw harder. So they'll get tired & get hurt.

That's true but I think there are reasons why you see it a lot more now and in the past. My guess is that it will get back to 1990's levels in a few years but we'll have to wait a few years to know.

[MarketingBully]

From Coach Cann and I think you can blame Johnson for not adjusting his program to the younger freshman kids.

"There are a lot of things that people are trying to do to increase velocity and I don’t think young kids’ ligaments are able to handle that type of work load.”

[ShotgunDawg]

From Coach Cann and I think you can blame Johnson for not adjusting his program to the younger freshman kids.

"There are a lot of things that people are trying to do to increase velocity and I don’t think young kids’ ligaments are able to handle that type of work load.”

I don't disagree with the quote, but we can't forget context. Wes didn't have the Fall to implement his system and thus had to rush it. Perhaps that was a mistake and when combined with 3 pitching coaches in 3 years was catastrophic, but it was unchartertered territory. Wes had never taken over a program in November. Wes was hired to implement his stystem at MSU, so what's was he supposed to do? Not implement it?

Would he change some things in hind sight? Maybe, you must put yourself in his shoes to get this. Again, he's an outstanding pitching coach.

[Tbonewannabe]

I don't disagree with the quote, but we can't forget context. Wes didn't have the Fall to implement his system and thus had to rush it. Perhaps that was a mistake and when combined with 3 pitching coaches in 3 years was catastrophic, but it was unchartertered territory. Wes had never taken over a program in November. Wes was hired to implement his stystem at MSU, so what's was he supposed to do? Not implement it?

Would he change some things in hind sight? Maybe, you must put yourself in his shoes to get this. Again, he's an outstanding pitching coach.

We saw a jump in velocity but a good coach could modify it. If you go from running a 1k to a marathon then you need to gradually increase distance. Wes pushed hard so everyone improved but it was at the cost of half of their arms. This isn't just a cookie cutter thing but it sounds like Wes didn't do a good enough job of monitoring for injuries. I am sure Wes isn't solely to blame but he probably should take a large percentage.

[AlSwearengen]

From Coach Cann and I think you can blame Johnson for not adjusting his program to the younger freshman kids.

"There are a lot of things that people are trying to do to increase velocity and I don’t think young kids’ ligaments are able to handle that type of work load.”

I'm not an expert in anything, but I have been around gyms for many years now and have witnessed anything from moderate to heavy steroid use among powerlifters and bodybuilders. It was always "understood" that a person who had not been working out for a very long period of time and started "juicing" early on, would often injure shoulders or elbows and sometimes knees. The theory was that the steroid use caused the muscle to gain strength at a pace that ligaments and tendons couldn't keep up with. In other words, the ligaments and tendons get overloaded because the lifter was able to push or pull more weight than the attachment could handle. I wouldn't be shocked if Johnson came in knowing that people expected pitchers to increase velocity under him and he wanted to live up to those expectations and ended up pushing too hard too soon. I know that is all that we talked about here when he was hired.

[smootness]

Please post less. Your just looking ignorant.


Or it just could be that we had 3 pitching coaches in less than year that all have different styles and training regiments. Additionally, we hired Johnson in October and gave him less time to implement his system than a normal pitching coach would ever get.

Keep up the witch hunt though. It makes you look brilliant when Wes is about to coach his 2nd straight SEC Championship team and have 2 pitchers go in the top 5 rounds of the draft.

You talking to me?

I don't care when he was hired, it's irresponsible to try to ramp up your program more quickly. You don't have to have everyone exactly where you want them by the start of the season, it's all about continual progress.

And I never said anything about the performance of his pitchers. Increasing velocity is a great way to increase effectiveness, assuming command stays the same. Wes Johnson is able to get his pitchers to produce, nobody has ever questioned that. The question is whether or not it increases injury likelihood and, if so, if the trade-off is worth it.

Increased velocity is correlated with increased injury likelihood, that is just a fact. So even if his training methods are scientifically and medically sound, the increase in velocity alone will both increase effectiveness and likelihood of injury, on average. If the training methods are not sound, then you're increasing that likelihood of injury by quite a bit more.

[smootness]

Actually he hasn't dailed it back. Arkansas is going to win the SEC title and he'll have 2 pitchers make a combined 2 million dollars.

Move on people. It's dumb and ignorant to keep him your enemy. He's a damn good pitching coach.

It's willfully ignorant to just assume there is no problem and attack everyone who questions it.

There are unprecedented levels of severe pitching injuries at Mississippi State over the last year. If you're not at least questioning why that is and taking a look at the training methods leading up to that, then you've decided that the possibility of ignorance is totally fine with you.

[preachermatt83]

You talking to me?

I don't care when he was hired, it's irresponsible to try to ramp up your program more quickly. You don't have to have everyone exactly where you want them by the start of the season, it's all about continual progress.

And I never said anything about the performance of his pitchers. Increasing velocity is a great way to increase effectiveness, assuming command stays the same. Wes Johnson is able to get his pitchers to produce, nobody has ever questioned that. The question is whether or not it increases injury likelihood and, if so, if the trade-off is worth it.

Increased velocity is correlated with increased injury likelihood, that is just a fact. So even if his training methods are scientifically and medically sound, the increase in velocity alone will both increase effectiveness and likelihood of injury, on average. If the training methods are not sound, then you're increasing that likelihood of injury by quite a bit more.

Amen!!!

[ShotgunDawg]

You talking to me?

I don't care when he was hired, it's irresponsible to try to ramp up your program more quickly. You don't have to have everyone exactly where you want them by the start of the season, it's all about continual progress.

And I never said anything about the performance of his pitchers. Increasing velocity is a great way to increase effectiveness, assuming command stays the same. Wes Johnson is able to get his pitchers to produce, nobody has ever questioned that. The question is whether or not it increases injury likelihood and, if so, if the trade-off is worth it.

Increased velocity is correlated with increased injury likelihood, that is just a fact. So even if his training methods are scientifically and medically sound, the increase in velocity alone will both increase effectiveness and likelihood of injury, on average. If the training methods are not sound, then you're increasing that likelihood of injury by quite a bit more.

If he were a good coach?

[smootness]

If he were a good coach?

What?

I acknowledged he gets results, so his methods are effective from that standpoint. The question, again, is whether or not they produce a greater likelihood of injury. So if you consider a good coach someone who simply gets results regardless of consequences, then he is an unquestioned great coach.

Just depends on how you define it. And I'm not saying that Johnson clearly is causing injuries. I'm just saying that there is at least a question that needs to be asked. It is possible for a coach to get results with methods that aren't best for long-term, sustained success.

[Cooterpoot]

Shotgun is all up on Wes's Johnson. Dang it boy!

[Tbonewannabe]

What?

I acknowledged he gets results, so his methods are effective from that standpoint. The question, again, is whether or not they produce a greater likelihood of injury. So if you consider a good coach someone who simply gets results regardless of consequences, then he is an unquestioned great coach.

Just depends on how you define it. And I'm not saying that Johnson clearly is causing injuries. I'm just saying that there is at least a question that needs to be asked. It is possible for a coach to get results with methods that aren't best for long-term, sustained success.

Reminds me of The Junction Boys where Bear Bryant nearly killed that Aggies team. Seems like one of them got heat exhaustion and had to quit. Bear later on apologized for how hard he pushed them. They became tough SOBs but it seemed like a few of them had to quit because it was so tough.

It seems Wes pushed them harder than he should have but the ones that survived got great benefits from it. I doubt the ones who became injured thought pushing yourself like that was worth it.

[Todd4State]

What?

I acknowledged he gets results, so his methods are effective from that standpoint. The question, again, is whether or not they produce a greater likelihood of injury. So if you consider a good coach someone who simply gets results regardless of consequences, then he is an unquestioned great coach.

Just depends on how you define it. And I'm not saying that Johnson clearly is causing injuries. I'm just saying that there is at least a question that needs to be asked. It is possible for a coach to get results with methods that aren't best for long-term, sustained success.

I think his methods work and would have sustained success if done properly.

I think the problem actually is a disconnect from the biomechanical side of things on Wes's end.

[BB30]

I think his methods work and would have sustained success if done properly.

I think the problem actually is a disconnect from the biomechanical side of things on Wes's end.

Again, a lot of it is due to the fact that a lot of those freshman's bodies were already overloaded with new stuff. I know my freshman year going from high school workouts to college work outs were a huge jump. Not just in the excersises but in the longevity of the workouts and the amount during the week. The first couple of weeks your legs aren't under you and you are just flat out beat. When the body is tired injuries are more prevalent. Throw in a new program involving weighted balls and other velo generating arm exercises and it was just over exertion. He wasn't the sole cause by any means but no doubt played a part in it.

There is a reason some of the older guys didn't run into the same problems and it was because their bodies were used to the rest of the grind, they were in better more physical shape than the young guys and could handle the extra work load.

Also, there are some things you can change mechanically to add velocity, I don't know if Wes did this to an extent or not. But, when you start to change mechanics, the body and muscles are not used to working in that particular way and that can induce stress on ligaments and tendons in the elbow and shoulder.

I personally am not a fan of changing mechanics for added velo. If you can't generate velocity with fairly clean smooth mechanics then you were not built to throw 95-96 and are just asking for an injury.

[Tbonewannabe]

Again, a lot of it is due to the fact that a lot of those freshman's bodies were already overloaded with new stuff. I know my freshman year going from high school workouts to college work outs were a huge jump. Not just in the excersises but in the longevity of the workouts and the amount during the week. The first couple of weeks your legs aren't under you and you are just flat out beat. When the body is tired injuries are more prevalent. Throw in a new program involving weighted balls and other velo generating arm exercises and it was just over exertion. He wasn't the sole cause by any means but no doubt played a part in it.

There is a reason some of the older guys didn't run into the same problems and it was because their bodies were used to the rest of the grind, they were in better more physical shape than the young guys and could handle the extra work load.

Also, there are some things you can change mechanically to add velocity, I don't know if Wes did this to an extent or not. But, when you start to change mechanics, the body and muscles are not used to working in that particular way and that can induce stress on ligaments and tendons in the elbow and shoulder.

I personally am not a fan of changing mechanics for added velo. If you can't generate velocity with fairly clean smooth mechanics then you were not built to throw 95-96 and are just asking for an injury.

And combine this with Wes coming in late in the fall and it was probably high risk to try and rush through his system. He should have known to scale back if he was looking for injuries.

[HoopsDawg]

I'll just say this, if my son was a college prospect as a pitcher, no way would he be going to Arkansas.

[louisvilledawg]

Shotgun is all up on Wes's Johnson. Dang it boy!

https://media.tenor.co/images/a342f2e98231d01c0312fe9d13931be9/raw

[ShotgunDawg]

I'll just say this, if my son was a college prospect as a pitcher, no way would he be going to Arkansas.

And I could understand that, but he's also made more money for his pitchers than just about anyone outside of Vandy and Florida.

Does your fear of injury out weigh your love of money?

Look at the draft over the past 5 years and get back to me.