http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5502866 Bet Rob Dibble feels like a dumbass...... WASHINGTON -- Rookie right-hander Stephen Strasburg has a significant tear in his ulnar collateral ligament that probably will require reconstructive Tommy John elbow surgery, the Nationals announced Friday. General manager Mike Rizzo said an enhanced MRI taken a day earlier revealed the extent of the injury. The 22-year-old will travel to the West Coast to see Dr. Lewis Yocum for a second opinion. But Rizzo said he anticipates Strasburg will require surgery, ruling him out for 12 to 18 months. The star pitcher has had two MRIs since he was removed from Saturday's game at Philadelphia. The initial diagnosis was a strained tendon in his right forearm. But the first scan raised enough questions for the team to order a more enhanced MRI. Strasburg was placed on the 15-day disabled list Monday, the second time he's been on the DL in less than a month. He was previously shelved with inflammation in his right shoulder. Strasburg, whose impressive array of pitches includes a 100-mph fastball, a dominating changeup and a devastating curveball, has logged 68 innings in 12 starts, going 5-3 with 92 strikeouts, 17 walks and a 2.91 ERA.
That just goes to show how hard it is to get a pitcher who is really good for a long long time..ala Nolan Ryan or Clemens or Randy Johnson..without a major breakdown. I really don't think pitches coaches today have any clue what they're doing.
Two things: 1) That's awful news. Injuries always suck, but year recovery ones to young kids is just terrible. 2) Tommy John surgery has potential to make the pitcher's arm stronger upon recovery. WTF is he going to throw? 110? hmy: As for his pitching coach, I don't blame him for this. I blame whoever it was that decided to promote him so quickly. Yeah, he's a phenom, but he still needed time to progress to a professional level before throwing to the most talented hitters in the world.
A lot of guys that have the surgery come back better than ever, just sucks to miss that long of a period of time.
That's the result of a year of intense rehab, as well as possibly reversing lost velocity due to a deteriorated UCL. It doesn't actually make the arm stronger.
It's a shame. It's also why it's such a tremendous risk to give that kind of money to a drafted pitcher - a remarkably small proportion of high school/college pitching phenoms actually have long-term success. I wish him the best, but how many young pitchers who have gotten serious injuries to their pitching arms have made it all the way back?
Depends on the injury. Shoulder injuries? Not so much. Elbow injuries, particularly injuries to the UCL, have a much higher rate of success. List of Players who had TJS
I believe he had an innings limit that he was approaching very quickly, which is why the Nats were more than willing to sit him at the slightest thing. Sucks for Strasberg, hopefully he can make it back and be an impact in 2012, if we're not all dead.
I was being sarcastic. My point was that even when teams baby their young pitchers they still get injured. So what the fuck is the point with pitch counts and innings restrictions?
The point is that you always want to minimize your risk as much as reasonably possible. What do you gain from having him throw 140 pitches every outing compared to the risk of losing him to injury? There will always be the risk of injury. To any pitcher. But there's variance involved. There are pitchers who throw 40 bajillion innings and never get hurt. Those pitchers are rare. There are also pitchers who fall apart if someone sneezes on them. Those are less rare. But it's not an easy thing to predict. All you do is the best you can, with respect to protecting pitchers. With a 22-year-old who throws as hard as Strasburg does, there is/was always that risk that he'd injure himself, and you could probably surmise that his risk was elevated compared to other pitchers because of his mechanics... but is that risk higher if he's throwing 250 innings in a year at age 22? Of course it is.
I always liked the sarcasm meter. Zero if you're totally serious. Ten if you're completely sarcastic/kidding. In between for varying levels of sarcasm. Example: Derek Jeter should win a gold glove. (0) <---- Totally serious (and probably written by Michael Kay). Derek Jeter should win a gold glove. (10) <---- Completely sarcastic (and written by an intelligent person). Most Sox fans are incapable of tying their own shoes. (3) <---- Only kind of kidding.
I have no doubt that he'll make it back to the majors, but very few pitchers on that list had the surgery younger than 26 or 27 and had any notable success afterwards. Manny Delcarmen and Brian Duensing might end up being people who had the surgery young (21) and came back well (it's too early to tell for sure), but other than Josh Johnson there is little evidence from that list suggesting that an elbow injury this bad at this young an age can be overcome well enough to be a top pitcher. The fact that Strasburg has made a total of 23 minor and major league starts and has already been on the DL with a shoulder injury, and now a very major elbow injury, makes me think his odds are longer than many people seem to think.
