Tommy John Surgery Roster grows: Jarrod Parker, Medlen, Beachy, Corbin, Hochevar and more

[reillymcshane]

Young pitchers continue to fall. Jarrod Parker is the latest pitcher to go down. Interesting to see how young some of these guys are - especially guys having a second surgery. Here's a rundown of people I can think of going down since camp began:

 

Jarrod Parker - 2nd Tommy John surgery

 

The Braves lost Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy - I think both on their 2nd TJ procedure.

 

Arizona's Patrick Corbin is likely going to need TJ.

 

KC's Luke Hochevar already went under the knife.

 

The Padres lost (or will lose) a couple of young pitchers to TJ, Cory Luebke and Joe Wieland (I think both for 2nd time).

 

Minnesota lost one of the game's top prospects in Miguel Sano to TJ - although he is a 3B, not a pitcher.

[JohnBriggs12]

What is interesting is that so many are 2nd timers. Teams are going think twice about giving big money to guys with TJ in their history. Pitching is the ultimate survival of the fittest. So many guys throw so hard these days, that all the precautions taken with limiting innings really have had minimal affect at least when it comes to elbows.

[The stache]

Pitchers do throw hard, but I don't know if they're throwing that much harder than they did even ten years ago.

 

I sent a Tweet to Will Carroll asking him what he thinks is primarily responsible for the shocking increase in these season ending injuries. Is it a conditioning issue? Is it a lack of flexibility derived from an increased focus in strength training? Because pitchers today are asked to throw a lot fewer innings than they used to.

 

I know he's kind of a freak of nature, but Nolan Ryan was able to strike out 1,079 players between 1972 and 1974. He threw 942 2/3 innings, and that's with his fastball breaking 100 mph on a fairly consistent basis. Hell, he struck out 301 at age 42, throwing 239 1/3 innings in 1989. He didn't need Tommy John surgery, yet guys that haven;t even made it to the Majors are having this surgery left and right.

[Baldkin]

Pitchers do throw hard, but I don't know if they're throwing that much harder than they did even ten years ago.

 

I sent a Tweet to Will Carroll asking him what he thinks is primarily responsible for the shocking increase in these season ending injuries. Is it a conditioning issue? Is it a lack of flexibility derived from an increased focus in strength training? Because pitchers today are asked to throw a lot fewer innings than they used to.

 

I know he's kind of a freak of nature, but Nolan Ryan was able to strike out 1,079 players between 1972 and 1974. He threw 942 2/3 innings, and that's with his fastball breaking 100 mph on a fairly consistent basis. Hell, he struck out 301 at age 42, throwing 239 1/3 innings in 1989. He didn't need Tommy John surgery, yet guys that haven;t even made it to the Majors are having this surgery left and right.

 

There will always be guys who get hurt and guys who don't. It's part of the human body. Saying "Why can't guys be like the single most durable pitcher in history" is no different then saying, "Why can't everyone hit like Ted Williams?"

[logan82]

Pitchers do throw hard, but I don't know if they're throwing that much harder than they did even ten years ago.

 

I sent a Tweet to Will Carroll asking him what he thinks is primarily responsible for the shocking increase in these season ending injuries. Is it a conditioning issue? Is it a lack of flexibility derived from an increased focus in strength training? Because pitchers today are asked to throw a lot fewer innings than they used to.

 

I know he's kind of a freak of nature, but Nolan Ryan was able to strike out 1,079 players between 1972 and 1974. He threw 942 2/3 innings, and that's with his fastball breaking 100 mph on a fairly consistent basis. Hell, he struck out 301 at age 42, throwing 239 1/3 innings in 1989. He didn't need Tommy John surgery, yet guys that haven;t even made it to the Majors are having this surgery left and right.

 

There will always be guys who get hurt and guys who don't. It's part of the human body. Saying "Why can't guys be like the single most durable pitcher in history" is no different then saying, "Why can't everyone hit like Ted Williams?"

Long ago I think most pitchers disappeared if they had arm injuries.

[JohnBriggs12]

Arizona and certainly Atlanta are teams the Brewers could be fighting with for a wild card. Lets hope the same doesn't befall any key members of the Brewers' rotation.

[reillymcshane]

Tigers reliever Bruce Rondon will have TJ surgery and miss 2014.

 

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/03/bruce-rondon-to-undergo-tommy-john-surgery.html

 

Rondon is 23 and looked pretty good last year as a rookie. He had a a 3.45 ERA with 9.4 K/9, 3.5 BB/9 and a 46.8 percent ground-ball rate in 28 2/3 innings. Not a bad way to start your career.

 

I didn't realize that his 99.3 mph average fastball was the best in baseball last year - even better than Aroldis Chapman's.

[dacbrewers]

Tigers reliever Bruce Rondon will have TJ surgery and miss 2014.

 

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/03/bruce-rondon-to-undergo-tommy-john-surgery.html

 

Rondon is 23 and looked pretty good last year as a rookie. He had a a 3.45 ERA with 9.4 K/9, 3.5 BB/9 and a 46.8 percent ground-ball rate in 28 2/3 innings. Not a bad way to start your career.

 

I didn't realize that his 99.3 mph average fastball was the best in baseball last year - even better than Aroldis Chapman's.

 

He won't be averaging that anymore.

[Fear The Chorizo]

Jameson Taillon, top pitching prospect of the Pirates and ranked the 22nd prospect in all of baseball this season according to baseball america, will need to get his elbow cut on and miss this season and some of 2015.

 

That's a huge blow to their longterm rotation plans, and honestly a big boost to what the Brewers may be able to do in the division this year. Taillon was slated to start the season in AAA, but could have made their rotation to start the season if he didn't have a balky spring and if they weren't concerned about when his arby clock would start.

[TheCrew07]

It's not a blow to their long-term plans, but it definitely hurts them over the next 16-24 months depending on how well he heals and pitches when he comes back.

[jerichoholicninja]

You can add Jameson Tallion and Bobby Parnell to the list.

[torts]

Jameson Taillon, top pitching prospect of the Pirates and ranked the 22nd prospect in all of baseball this season according to baseball america, will need to get his elbow cut on and miss this season and some of 2015.

 

That's a huge blow to their longterm rotation plans, and honestly a big boost to what the Brewers may be able to do in the division this year. Taillon was slated to start the season in AAA, but could have made their rotation to start the season if he didn't have a balky spring and if they weren't concerned about when his arby clock would start.

 

Taillon wasnt going to make the majors until late summer unless a number of other pitchers all exploded quickly. If Wandy/Volquez fail they have Jeff Locke to throw in there still, Taillon wasnt going to factor in the rotation until next year, so yeah, its a blow to their rotation in the next two years, but its not catastrophic by any means.

[HiAndTight]

Jameson Taillon, top pitching prospect of the Pirates and ranked the 22nd prospect in all of baseball this season according to baseball america, will need to get his elbow cut on and miss this season and some of 2015.

 

That's a huge blow to their longterm rotation plans, and honestly a big boost to what the Brewers may be able to do in the division this year. Taillon was slated to start the season in AAA, but could have made their rotation to start the season if he didn't have a balky spring and if they weren't concerned about when his arby clock would start.

 

Taillon wasnt going to make the majors until late summer unless a number of other pitchers all exploded quickly. If Wandy/Volquez fail they have Jeff Locke to throw in there still, Taillon wasnt going to factor in the rotation until next year, so yeah, its a blow to their rotation in the next two years, but its not catastrophic by any means.

 

 

Tallion was at roughly the same place coming into this year that Cole was at last year. I won't pretend to know when he would have made the big leagues, but I do know that for a team like the Pirates, they needed either someone like Liriano to come back and replicate his huge bounce back year, or one of the top young power arms in the game to throw well and burst into the big leagues.

 

Every year there are several young pitchers who are key to their teams playoff chances, both getting in or winning once their in.

 

I would guess the Pirates were hoping that Tallion would dominate in AAA and be ready for a callup. Losing that....at least to my thinking is a significant blow to them.

[yfinn6]

Matt Moore left for the Rays in the 5th grimacing with pain seemingly from his pitching arm - lower half. He might be another TJ candidate.

[BarneyStinston]

Since TJ surgery is one of the few legal performance enhancement techniques that still remain legal, with no consequence of being branded a cheater on the horizon, its no surprise that scores of guys are swarming at the chance to resurrect their careers.

[jerichoholicninja]

Since TJ surgery is one of the few legal performance enhancement techniques that still remain legal, with no consequence of being branded a cheater on the horizon, its no surprise that scores of guys are swarming at the chance to resurrect their careers.

 

So if a guy breaks his leg, having it reset and put in a cast is considered performance enhancing?

[reillymcshane]

I wonder if Viagra is okay for baseball players. If there was ever a 'performance enhancing' drug, that would be it.

[hawing]

How long before there's a separate Tommy John league? My goodness.

[BarneyStinston]

Since TJ surgery is one of the few legal performance enhancement techniques that still remain legal, with no consequence of being branded a cheater on the horizon, its no surprise that scores of guys are swarming at the chance to resurrect their careers.

 

So if a guy breaks his leg, having it reset and put in a cast is considered performance enhancing?

 

Two totally different things. When a guy breaks his leg, he does not get a whole new leg and get it reconstructed (new tendons, muscles, or bones). For Tommy John surgery, its taking a new harvested tendon from some other place or a cadaver and anchoring it. Nobody needs Tommy John surgery for function in everyday life, as the tendon generally heals in time. This is pure enhancement to undo the effects of years of damage and avoid long term healing in a race against time for most pitchers careers. Genetically, most of these guys (especially young ones having the surgery) would never have such long careers without the surgery. Its a cheat, and a very definitive one at that. It very conclusively increases a pitcher's function dramatically and unnaturally. Imagine if hitters had a surgery that definitively restored a power swing progressively lost over the years. You know that would certainly be considered cheating.

 

Why is it cheating to take medicines but not cheating to get your elbow rebuilt?

Why do we salute the surgeons and vilify the pharmacists and biochemists?

Why salute long term records broken by a guy getting TJ surgery to artificially extend his career, but not those using pharmacology?

[TheCrew07]

Its a cheat, and a very definitive one at that. It very conclusively increases a pitcher's velocity dramatically and unnaturally.

 

Unless you have a source which you can link to I think you need to revisit that statement. I haven't read up on TJ surgery in a couple of years but a temporary 1-2 MPH increase is not dramatic nor unnatural. It's the difference between a tight tendon and tendon which has been loosened up or someone who was holding back because his arm was that sore prior to surgery.

 

Furthermore how is TJ surgery any different than ACL reconstruction surgery?

 

Finally completely torn tendons do not properly heal, there's no mechanism in the body to affix them back to the bone or naturally tie them back together. Not to mention it takes an incredibly long time for partial tears to heal because there is very little blood flow through our joints.

 

So again, provide a link and some evidence to back up your statements, everything I've posted can be found through simple google searches.

 

This article probably sums it up best:

 

Tommy John surgery–fact and fiction

 

P.S. - I understand your larger point about cheating but painting TJ surgery as something it's not by passing along misinformation is misleading at best.

[BarneyStinston]

Its a cheat, and a very definitive one at that. It very conclusively increases a pitcher's velocity dramatically and unnaturally.

 

Unless you have a source which you can link to I think you need to revisit that statement. I haven't read up on TJ surgery in a couple of years but a temporary 1-2 MPH increase is not dramatic nor unnatural. It's the difference between a tight tendon and tendon which has been loosened up or someone who was holding back because his arm was that sore prior to surgery.

 

Furthermore how is TJ surgery any different than ACL reconstruction surgery?

 

Finally completely torn tendons do not properly heal, there's no mechanism in the body to affix them back to the bone or naturally tie them back together. Not to mention it takes an incredibly long time for partial tears to heal because there is very little blood flow through our joints.

 

So again, provide a link and some evidence to back up your statements, everything I've posted can be found through simple google searches.

 

This article probably sums it up best:

 

Tommy John surgery–fact and fiction

 

P.S. - I understand your larger point about cheating but painting TJ surgery as something it's not by passing along misinformation is misleading at best.

 

For one, a repaired ACL is not used to deliver a baseball to the plate. It is used to maintain everyday function. TJ is specifically done to enhance the unnatural motion of pitching. In most cases the pitchers arm is still functional, just not adequate for major league competition. Hence this is a procedure almost exclusively done for pitchers. Orthopedic surgeons (especially MLB player surgeons) have very legitimate interest in suppressing or admitting to "enhancement" as it obviously can only hurt their practice greatly to do less procedures if it ever gets considered a kind of cheating. One surgeon actually comes out and says “We do not want to suggest Tommy John surgery is an option for improved performance.” Yeah right. Players going under the knife NOT to improve performance? I admit some do it for pain issues, but the bulk are doing it to improve or prolong their careers.

 

The argument is illustrated here

http://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2013/07/25/205513618/is-it-fair-for-baseball-to-reject-drugs-but-embrace-surgery

 

Statistics:

http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20140322/MAGAZINE/303229956

 

Post-surgery, the “patients of Jobe” allowed fewer walks and hits per inning, won a higher percentage of games and had a lower earned-run average.

 

I think most would admit that there is more science and evidence of specific enhancement with this surgery on a player as compared to someone taking a short course of PED's, which shows nearly nothing definitive.

[jerichoholicninja]

You can add Brian Moran and possibly Matt Moore to the list of cheaters...err...players with an injury to their UCL requiring surgery.

[TheCrew07]

The argument is illustrated here

http://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2013/07/25/205513618/is-it-fair-for-baseball-to-reject-drugs-but-embrace-surgery

 

Statistics:

http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20140322/MAGAZINE/303229956

 

Post-surgery, the “patients of Jobe” allowed fewer walks and hits per inning, won a higher percentage of games and had a lower earned-run average.

 

I think most would admit that there is more science and evidence of specific enhancement with this surgery on a player as compared to someone taking a short course of PED's, which shows nearly nothing definitive.

 

I figured you were coming with that NPR piece as it was on quite a few blogs last summer and read like the oft repeated argument, but it didn't really cover the what the procedure really is. You are making a conspiracy out of something where one doesn't exist. The surgical procedure is the same for any ligament replacement and I don't see how extending any player's career in any sport is cheating... elbow, knee, ankle, or otherwise.

 

The "medical" article you linked is behind a login so I don't have any context, or event the qualifications of the author, however the quote you used is clearly spinning the data to a predetermined conclusion. Most patients who have TJ surgery and tried to pitch through it experience velocity loss and poor performance prior to the surgery, so of course post surgery you would hope they would return to their pre-injury form. If the athlete doesn't say anything poor performance and unusual body language is generally the best indicator that something is wrong. Many high school athletes won't even be honest about their injuries because they just want to play, it's common through all levels of sport.

 

Based on what you posted I have no idea if they considered just the year prior and following the surgery, or the entire sum total of the player's career. I would guess the former because any legitimate medical study on the subject disagrees with the slanted NPR opinion piece you chose to frame your argument around. Which is there difference here, this particular opinion wasn't based on medical fact, rather people hear stories about crazy parents suggesting their kids have a "preemptive TJ" and the true facts about anatomy, surgery, and rehab options get left behind.

 

I can appreciate someone trying to draw a correlation between "enhancing one's body medically" and PEDs, but the problem with the argument starts with the notion that athletes who under go tendon repairs are being augmented physically. In truth they are temporarily being returned to their natural state. A pitcher may temporarily pickup a MPH or 2 over their previous max, but again without knowing how long the pitcher was actually pitching hurt that could just be the difference in pitching pain free. We may see a day when genetic engineering plays a role in enhancing athletes but that's a far cry from tying a ligament back to the bone or repairing a tear. Are we going to start calling athletes who had pins inserted into their broken bones cheaters as well? What about someone with an artificial joint, like in the hip? That's an actual augmentation...

 

It's just a highly flawed comparison with little tangible fact to back it up.

[BarneyStinston]

For the record, I am not painting a conspiracy here. I simply believe that TJ surgery versus PED usage should get the same amount of consideration as enhancement techniques. MLB clearly favors one over the other. Artificial joints are done to return a basic function like walking, not to get better at professional level pitching. As far as a return to a normal state, anyone could argue that taking HGH to return to a more normal level during their youth is the "natural" thing to do. I just don't buy that this surgery is in any way "natural" at all. This is not simply a return to a preinjury state, The new graft is woven in a figure 8 pattern and anchored through holes drilled in the bone, ulnar nerve moved to prevent scar tissue from affecting it. How is that anatomically normal, equivalent to a preinjury state? Even many pitchers believe that they can throw harder after the surgery than beforehand.

 

I have copied the text of that article out for you here. For some reason I did not have a login screen when going to it:

 

Outliers: Stats show Tommy John surgery really is a game changer

 

By Modern Healthcare

Posted: March 22, 2014 - 12:01 am ET

Tags: Outliers, Physicians, Research

 

It was an interesting epilogue to a colorful life and career. Just days after Dr. Frank Jobe died March 6 at the age of 88, a paper was presented at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons annual meeting that showed the surgical technique he invented has had some notably impressive results.

 

Researchers compared the records of 179 major-league baseball pitchers who had undergone Jobe's ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction technique, better known as “Tommy John surgery,” against 179 pitchers who did not have the surgery. Both groups were matched for age, body mass index, handedness and major league experience. Before surgery, the pitchers who underwent the procedure had been outperformed by the control group. Post-surgery, the “patients of Jobe” allowed fewer walks and hits per inning, won a higher percentage of games and had a lower earned-run average.

 

 

Researchers found the surgery extended pitching careers by an average of 3.9 years. But for the original surgical subject—Los Angeles Dodgers All-Star Tommy John—the statistics were even more impressive. John, who told Modern Healthcare that he and Jobe were forever linked in history like Burns and Allen, or Abbott and Costello, pitched an additional 13 years and won 164 games after the surgery (compared to 124 wins before).

 

Researchers, however, included a caveat with their findings: “We do caution looking too much into the improved stats for pitchers,” Dr. Anil Gupta, a paper co-author and surgeon with the Florida Orthopaedic Institute in Tampa, said in a news release. “We do not want to suggest Tommy John surgery is an option for improved performance.”

 

Also, while the findings were presented after Jobe's death, the study itself was posted on the American Journal of Sports Medicine website on Dec. 18. Jobe, who was once called baseball's “career saves leader” in a Chicago Sun-Times headline, was honored last summer by the Baseball Hall of Fame for his contribution to the sport.

[endaround]

The idea that a player who has maybe 12 years to his career is going to give 2 of them over to maybe get an improvement through elective Tommy John surgery is crazy. Yes the point that certain modern medicine is thought to be fine and others not is weird but that is only partially a baseball thing.