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

[torts]

Where is this fabled ignore function?!

[trwi7]

Where is this fabled ignore function?!

 

Go to user control panel (top right corner) and on the left it will have an option called "Friends & Foes." Click on that, then click on Manage foes and add the username of the person you want to block.

[stoutdude04]

Or click in the persons name and click add foe.

[PrinceEatMeat]

so who gets promoted to AAA with Hellweg inevitably going on the 60-day? Could Jungmann get promoted?

 

I sure hope so. I'd like to see him make the jump to AAA.

[PrinceFielderx1]

Hellweg sucks and is way overrated anyways.

 

GO AWAY YOU ARE SUCH A DEBBIE DOWNER EVERYWHERE ON THIS BOARD

 

Excuse me? I'm the only one who said we would win this game and last game. I'm the only one who said we'd contend for the division and beat the Cards. Really? Asking for Hellweg in that trade was a huge mistake by Melvin. He's just not that good or as good as advertised. He should be in high A or double A. I'm higher on Nelson. I just put you on ignore for not knowing what you are talking about and not being able to keep up.

[torts]

Hellweg sucks and is way overrated anyways.

 

GO AWAY YOU ARE SUCH A DEBBIE DOWNER EVERYWHERE ON THIS BOARD

 

Excuse me? I'm the only one who said we would win this game and last game. I'm the only one who said we'd contend for the division and beat the Cards. Really? Asking for Hellweg in that trade was a huge mistake by Melvin. He's just not that good or as good as advertised. He should be in high A or double A. I'm higher on Nelson. I just put you on ignore for not knowing what you are talking about and not being able to keep up.

 

get off here and go to http://pbeo.com/

[PrinceFielderx1]

Torts,

 

Thanks for the suggestion I'll consider it. In the mean time I continue to post here how I truly feel and try not to assume something that isn't true.

[jerichoholicninja]

Pedro Figueroa, come on down!

[jerichoholicninja]

Jose Campos of the New York Yankees.

[crossface21]

TH has some notes about this in his Sunday column:

 

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/brewers/tommy-john-surgeries-run-rampant-in-baseball-b99255887z1-256849651.html

[LouisEly]

I'm just going to throw out a SWAG here, and wonder (with no scientific proof whatsoever to support this theory) if there is too much conditioning/work in the offseason and the elbow doesn't have enough time to recover and strengthen. When it comes to training, rest is just as important as work.

 

You wonder how those guys threw 300 innings and started every fourth day. Yes, they weren't throwing nearly as hard (as recently as the early 80's throwing 90 was considered "gas"), but they didn't do nearly as much work in the offseason either.

[dlk9s]

Pitchers have been using PEDs for at least 40 years to recover between starts and relief appearances.

 

In a way that's what I'm saying - what if over the past few seasons PED use among pitchers dropped significantly due to MLB imposing the testing program and intense scrutiny throughout baseball to clean the game up?

 

I've always been very anti-PED, anti-steroid, but in the last year or two (probably not unrelated to Braun's saga), I've started to wonder if there's TOO much of a crackdown on PED's. Allow me to explain.

 

I'm extremely against PEDs that have been proven or are highly likely to cause long-term health problems. It is unfair to ask a player, especially a fringe major league-type, to make a decision between short-term career success and his long-term well-being. For instance, say Players A and B are similar of similar quality, grinding it out in the minors and have reached AAA. They're the kinds of players who might be able to make it to the bigs, but very well could be AAA lifers. Player A decides to start doing steroids or some other PED to help get him over the hump, while the other stays clean. It is totally unfair to tell Player B, "Sorry, your unwillingness to potentially take years off your life and possibly harm both yourself and your family is going to cost you a chance to fulfill your dreams and ability to make money right now." Ban PEDs like that, that can definitely mess you up down the line.

 

What I want to know, though, is if there are PEDs that are currently banned that can be totally fine to take as long as they are used under the guidance of a physician, just like any of us would take various medications with doctor supervision.

 

In and of themselves, there is nothing wrong with "Performance Enhancing Drugs." Using modern science to improve one's performance or two speed healing should be encouraged. Hell, we all do this every day. We take anti-inflammatories, arthritis meds, blood thinners, boner pills, whatever. Athletes do the same. It has felt like, and I have no evidence of this, as I neither know what drugs are on the banned list nor am I a doctor, that the blanket ban on PEDs has been spread too wide and that there might be drugs/treatments that could be good for a player with no detriment to long-term health as long as a legit physician leads the way.

 

If these players who have said they've taken PEDs just to "heal faster" are telling the truth, I'd really like to know if what they took could really be something useful and not dangerous if used properly. After all, nobody bats an eye at someone getting cut open to be fixed; we should all want to be able to get healthy with a pill or cream as long as it's safe.

[zzzmanwitz]

Just saw that Hellweg is in fact going to get TJ Surgery.

[Fear The Chorizo]

I think some of the huge innings totals from years gone by were also helped by how the MLB schedule was set back in the day...there were tons of scheduled double headers which led to many more true off days for teams. You may only have a 4 man rotation, but you never really needed a 5th starter if you played two weekend double headers, then had your next game scheduled the following Wednesday or Thursday to accomodate travel.

[lcbj68c]

Add Jose Fernandez

[reillymcshane]

Add Jose Fernandez

Torn UCL for Fernandez.

 

Man, that has to hurt. Such an important player for that team.

 

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/10926741/miami-marlins-pitcher-jose-fernandez-torn-ulnar-collateral-ligament-surgery-recommended

[reillymcshane]

Interesting idea throw out by Tom Verducci to reduce arm issues - lower the mound. He argues that the velocity in which guys are throwing is a major contributor to TJ surgery. Lowering the mound will lower the stress on a pitcher's arm (claim experts).

 

Also, it would help inject some offense into the game.

 

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/mlb/news/20140513/jose-fernandez-miami-marlins-injury/

[jerichoholicninja]

Injuries have only gone up since the last time they lowered the mound. I don't see that making much of a difference.

[Fear The Chorizo]

Verducci or those experts couldn't be more wrong, IMO - if they want to prevent pitching injuries using mound elevations, they should raise the mound. having the added elevation creates more momentum from the legs, back, and other parts of the body that put less stress on the arm...if pitchers revert back to mechanics that don't strain the arm & elbow as much.

 

Tommy John was on a Chicago radio show this morning and brought up several points. Pitchers today more than ever finish off pitches looking like Tiger Woods swinging a golf club - their landing foot is initially bent when it hits the ground but they end up straightening it to generate more torque to max out velocity as they release the ball. Back in TJ's era pitchers tended to keep that front leg bent and truly used their legs and back to preserve their arms. Nolan Ryan, that era's ultimate power pitcher, let the ball go with a bent leg and his back was often parallel with the ground on release. Looking at some quick video of Jose Fernandez, he releases the ball with practically a rigid landing leg and is much more upright with his follow through - that's putting much more stress on the arm. That's the mechanical trend for many of today's pitchers, because it does maximize velocity.

 

He also mentioned that weightlifting has created pitchers with inflexible wrists/forearms, which adds strain on the elbow every time a pitcher releases the ball. Not necessarily bodybuilding type weights, but even strength training at youth/amateur levels. TJ's a strong advocate of the "Job" arm exercises, which are performed with super light weights and designed to build up flexibility and strength throughout the pitching arm. TJ more or less said it was his rehab regimen that made the TJ surgery successful. That regimen included those Job exercises and tons of throwing when his body/arm told him he needed to throw/pitch. He's also a huge proponent of leg strength & endurance training. Any type of typical upper body weight training using the arms/shoulders is something that leads to inflexibility in that wrist and foream area, especially if flexibility drills and stretching aren't part of that regular training.

[brewcrewdue80]

Jose Fernandez, and possibly Martin Perez. This really has become a problem that is making 2014 a tough season to follow across MLB. And it's not jusst the guys on ML rosters but guys who are top tier prospects getting delayed in appearing in the Bigs because they now need TJ themselves! Bundy and Taillon for example.

 

Will the solution wind up being reducing the season schedule down to 144 games? Giving more off days?

[jerichoholicninja]

Will the solution wind up being reducing the season schedule down to 144 games? Giving more off days?

 

There really isn't a solution. The problem is scouts love the radar gun and that's what young pitchers work toward. Not being a smart pitcher, or developing secondary pitches, but getting velocity on their fastball. And obviously the stats show that hard throwing pitchers are more successful. Teams, but really more so fans, need to decide if they want to invest (financially for clubs and emotionally for fans) in a high-90's guy who's going to give you a few (potentially good to great) years before the inevitable TJ or a guy like Marco Estrada who's going to give you high-80's/low-90's with a boring changeup but have a healthy shoulder and elbow.

 

Or to put it simply, do you want good and oft injured or average and healthy? That same question comes up every off season here with free agent pitchers. A lot of people were against the Garza signing because of injury issues. I don't think there were many that thought he was not a good pitcher, they just were worried about DL time on a long-term contract.

 

I think what is really going to make this whole discussion moot, though, is how these guys come back. If they are able to return to the success they had before the injury, who cares? Yes, you're going to lose about a calendar year of the player but if you're getting the same pitcher back is it really that big of an issue?

[reillymcshane]

Kid in Washington threw 194 pitches the other day:

 

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/10935698/dylan-fosnacht-rochester-high-school-throws-194-pitches-14-innings

[reillymcshane]

Bronson Arroyo undergoing TJ surgery.

 

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/07/bronson-arroyo-to-undergo-tommy-john-surgery.html

 

Arroyo had nine straight seasons of 199 IP or more. Pretty amazing streak.

[The stache]

Could Masahiro Tanaka be the next added to this list? Let's hope not.

 

Tanaka placed on DL with elbow inflammation.

 

I hope the MRI is negative, but, if he does end up needing Tommy John, what does that say about pitching workloads in the Major Leagues? Only Felix Hernandez, Matt Cain and Yu Darvish have thrown more pitches before their age 25 season than Tanaka. The difference being that Japanese pitchers only throw once every seven days. Could pitching frequency be a key factor in injury that hasn't been considered? I don't think he's throwing any harder since coming to America. Maybe, just maybe, it's the amount of time between starts that's the key. He's been given extra days off when possible since joining the Yankees, but that's not always been possible.

 

Interesting, to say the least. I just hope he's able to avoid going under the knife. But there's no doubt he's been less effective in his last few starts.