Stephen Strasburg likely to have Tommy John surgery

[Straight Shooter]

Washington Nationals ace Stephen Strasburg has a torn ligament and is likely to have Tommy John surgery, sidelining him for 12 to 18 months.

I'm not all that surprised that he would have elbow problems this early in his career. I told friends of mine that unless he changes his pitching motion he most likely would have either elbow or shoulder problems. Here's an article that provides some analysis on the different pitching motions.

http://www.chrisoleary.com/projects...essionalpitcheranalyses/StephenStrasburg.html

 

[STDiva]

Well that didn't last long.

 

[titsrock]

^
Yeah. I guess the suckers that orgied for his rookie baseball card probably feel like douchebags now.

Never has a promising career gone up in :Flame: faster...oh, wait, Kerry Wood, Mark Prior...

Strasburg probably will come back and be nothing special...

 

[MrZiggles]

Actually, this isn't true at all. There are plenty of pitchers who had the surgery and came back even better than before. He'll miss a season. That's really all we know at this point.

 

[PlasmaTwa2]

I wonder how long it is going to take for the Nationals to move this time.

 

[PlumpRump]

^
Yeah. I guess the suckers that orgied for his rookie baseball card probably feel like douchebags now.

Never has a promising career gone up in :flame: faster...oh, wait, Kerry Wood, Mark Prior...

Strasburg probably will come back and be nothing special...

I'm not so sold on that. Believe it or not, a significant amount of pitchers who have TJ surgery actually come back even better than they were before, granted it usually takes about 2 seasons to fully get back into form, but a lot of pitchers who have had the surgery come back and exhibit form above and beyond that which they displayed pre-surgery. This year alone, 9 pitchers who have had the surgery were selected as All-Stars. Look at the list, several of these guys have really seen a career resurgence since their respective TJ operation: Chris Carpenter, Tim Hudson, Josh Johnson, Arthur Rhodes, Brian Wilson, Joakim Soria, Hong-Chih Kuo, Rafael Soriano and Billy Wagner. All have seen an improvement in control and velocity across the board. Also, a guy that has been talked about as the potential National League rookie of the Year, Jamie Garcia, had the operation.

Imagine Strasbug coming back with better control and better velocity. Its not a given, but the track record of a significant number of pitchers that have had the surgery speaks volumes as to the potential of such.

And while Mark Prior is no doubt a huge flop, Kerry Wood has had some unsung successes in his career after injuries plagued him early on. He just recently became the fastest pitcher (innings-wise) to reach the 1,500 K mark, achieving the feat in 1,303 innings, besting Pedro Martinez' previous record by 34 innings. Granted, Martinez will be remember by the game as the better pitcher, but to my mind, Wood's story can still be seen as a success for a pitcher who had TJ surgery.

 

[Vlad The Impaler]

That sucks, but like a couple of guys said, they come back better most of the time 75% according to that Shilling asshole.

 

[Ace Bandage]

Awesome. I hope he's done for his career. Fuck him. Mark Prior could have been one of the best pitchers in the league for at least a decade before his injury problems started up. He was never the same after 2003.

I wish the same injury plagued career on Strasburg.

 

[Vlad The Impaler]

Awesome. I hope he's done for his career. Fuck him. Mark Prior could have been one of the best pitchers in the league for at least a decade before his injury problems started up. He was never the same after 2003.

I wish the same injury plagued career on Strasburg.

Karma now dictates he be traded to the Cubs! Repent!

 

[Ace Bandage]

Karma now dictates he be traded to the Cubs! Repent!

No, no, no. Great players come to Chicago and then get injured. If he came here already injured, you'd never hear from him again. Nobody ever improves when they come to the North side. They always go downhill. We're a giant cesspool of doom from which there is no escape. And besides, his contract isn't nearly high enough yet to play for the Cubs.

 

[D-rock]

In modern baseball since the surgical technique was invented Tommy John surgery has pretty much become a right of passage for a large chunk of pitchers in the league. You can almost count on pitchers developing some type of injury due to throwing sooner or later.

 

[Bloodshot Scott]

Kerry Wood part II. I remember watching his 20K game his rookie year; everyone thought he was the express part II. He was soooooo dope.

Makes you wonder about how the Nats' pussified Strassburg by watching his pitch count and pitching him forever in the minors to "break him in." Morons...



BTW, Liriano had the surgery and he is now an elite pitcher, so don't right off yet. :2 cents:

 

[shayd]

Washington Nationals ace Stephen Strasburg has a torn ligament and is likely to have Tommy John surgery, sidelining him for 12 to 18 months.

I'm not all that surprised that he would have elbow problems this early in his career. I told friends of mine that unless he changes his pitching motion he most likely would have either elbow or shoulder problems. Here's an article that provides some analysis on the different pitching motions.

http://www.chrisoleary.com/projects...essionalpitcheranalyses/StephenStrasburg.html

O'Leary really should've just said, "He has a significantly pronounced inverted W", and ended it there. The rest of his mechanical analysis is more or less garbage.

BTW, Liriano had the surgery and he is now an elite pitcher, so don't right off yet. :2 cents:

Tough to make that comparison. Liriano got hurt because he throws from an especially stressful arm slot, and had trouble repeating his delivery, and in the end, his injury was an overuse injury. His delivery since his return has a noticeably smaller inverted W in his delivery. Strasburg has had poor mechanics this whole time, but his injury was acute, and changing his mechanics from the ground up is going to be a much bigger challenge than Liriano was.

 

[StanScratch]

Because of that pitching motion, there were a few who declared him an injury waiting to happen before the draft. Problem is, when he does come back, does he change that motion or keep the same?
If he keeps the same, another injury is a great danger. I think it is Kerry Wood who also has the same "inverted W" motion, perhaps Prior as well. Both have been quite rocky since then.
If he changes his delivery, he faces the danger of not having one that is comfortable to him - risking either injury or inefficiency, or both. Yes, there have been pitchers who have succeeded, but take a look at the names on this list, and you will realize not all come back successfully - in fact, I would say few do, as this is a list of the success stories.

 

[Bloodshot Scott]

O'Leary really should've just said, "He has a significantly pronounced inverted W", and ended it there. The rest of his mechanical analysis is more or less garbage.



Tough to make that comparison. Liriano got hurt because he throws from an especially stressful arm slot, and had trouble repeating his delivery, and in the end, his injury was an overuse injury. His delivery since his return has a noticeably smaller inverted W in his delivery. Strasburg has had poor mechanics this whole time, but his injury was acute, and changing his mechanics from the ground up is going to be a much bigger challenge than Liriano was.

Well I can't say I know a great deal about mechanics so I will take your word for it. The Nats' probably should have given up the rights to him for a boatload of players. They need the Twins' front office.

Because of that pitching motion, there were a few who declared him an injury waiting to happen before the draft. Problem is, when he does come back, does he change that motion or keep the same?
If he keeps the same, another injury is a great danger. I think it is Kerry Wood who also has the same "inverted W" motion, perhaps Prior as well. Both have been quite rocky since then.
If he changes his delivery, he faces the danger of not having one that is comfortable to him - risking either injury or inefficiency, or both. Yes, there have been pitchers who have succeeded, but take a look at the names on this list, and you will realize not all come back successfully - in fact, I would say few do, as this is a list of the success stories.

I forgot all about Pavano having the surgery. He seems to be back in form as well, but as of late the AL have been catching on to him. I will see if he can get back into form tonight. We're gonna need him absolutely to make a run in the PS.

 

[shayd]

Well I can't say I know a great deal about mechanics so I will take your word for it. The Nats' probably should have given up the rights to him for a boatload of players. They need the Twins' front office.

Trading him would have been a waste of a draft pick. First, they've have to wait at least 6 months from the day he signs, (per MLB rules), and to top that, prospect for prospect trades are extremely rare, (Young for Garza is the only one in recent memory) and chances are, while there would be interest, not many teams would have given a boatload for him.

 

[Straight Shooter]

I don't have a background in medicine but I believe that pitchers that make the inverted W,L, and V are more likely to experience either arm/and or shoulder problems. Look at some of the pitchers who make these arm actions: Mark Prior, Strasburg, AJ Burnett, Chris Carpenter, Joel Zumaya, and Jake Peavy. What do they all have in common? They all have had either elbow and/or shoulder problems throughout their career.

 

[shayd]

I don't have a background in medicine but I believe that pitchers that make the inverted W,L, and V are more likely to experience either arm/and or shoulder problems. Look at some of the pitchers who make these arm actions: Mark Prior, Strasburg, AJ Burnett, Chris Carpenter, Joel Zumaya, and Jake Peavy. What do they all have in common? They all have had either elbow and/or shoulder problems throughout their career.

It's easy to cherry pick pitchers of late that feature the inverted W and make a correlation, however there are plenty of examples of pitchers who've had it that were plenty successful in their careers: Smoltz, Glavine, Schilling, Martinez and a bunch more. The most common thing most pitchers that get injured have in common is that they throw hard, and typically come from different angles.

There's two trains of thought on the matter. Your belief makes up one of them, the notion that having an inverted W is essentially a death wish and pitchers need to be taught not to pitch with it. The other is centered on the idea of repetition, that is pitchers are more prone to injury when they can't keep a consistent delivery, and that the paramount concern for pitchers is to learn to repeat their delivery consistently. Honestly, there's validity in each, however we have also come to a point where pitchers have been pitching since their childhood, which probably has a huge impact later on.

 

[Straight Shooter]

It's easy to cherry pick pitchers of late that feature the inverted W and make a correlation, however there are plenty of examples of pitchers who've had it that were plenty successful in their careers: Smoltz, Glavine, Schilling, Martinez and a bunch more. The most common thing most pitchers that get injured have in common is that they throw hard, and typically come from different angles.

There's two trains of thought on the matter. Your belief makes up one of them, the notion that having an inverted W is essentially a death wish and pitchers need to be taught not to pitch with it. The other is centered on the idea of repetition, that is pitchers are more prone to injury when they can't keep a consistent delivery, and that the paramount concern for pitchers is to learn to repeat their delivery consistently. Honestly, there's validity in each, however we have also come to a point where pitchers have been pitching since their childhood, which probably has a huge impact later on.

I didn't say that a pitcher could not have a successful career if he makes the inverted W,L or V. You're right that some pitchers such as Smoltz have gone on to have successful careers but a majority of them suffered arm an/or shoulder problems along the way and Smoltz is one of them.

 

[shayd]

I didn't say that a pitcher could not have a successful career if he makes the inverted W,L or V. You're right that some pitchers such as Smoltz have gone on to have successful careers but a majority of them suffered arm an/or shoulder problems along the way and Smoltz is one of them.

And there is significant evidence that it could simply be the fact that he threw hard.