When Young Arms Go Bad

Any pitcher that's had Tommy John Surgery (MCL/UCL elbow reconstruction) has as good a chance if not better than the virgin elbow that is drafted out of Highschool. This is one reason there is a premium on College pitching. College pitcher are drafted between the ages of 21 and 22.

Most pitchers break into the Major League level at the age of 25. The human body is mature at the age of 25. In fact, the body begins to reverse and deteriorate at the age of 25. Everything from spinal disc degeneration to Male pattern hair loss begins around or at the age of 25.

When a professional pitcher with high velocity comes up at the age of 20-24;he runs a very high risk of tearing or avulsing (ripping off) his MCL or UCL ligament. It's a piece of soft tissue that holds the forearm to the elbow joint. It also stabilizes the two bones (ulnar/radius) in the forearm.

Little League Elbow. A recent study showed that 40% of kids between the ages of 9 and 12 suffer from an MCL tear or inflammation. This symptom is known as Little leaguers elbow. One of the major culprits of the symptom is a child learning to throw a hammer before his MCL matures. In fact, the MCL is often one of the slowest ligaments to mature. There's a period when young boys appear quite "Gangly" this is because their skeletal growth exceeds there soft tissue growth. These are real "Growing Pains".

Major League Baseball has a recent history of recognizing this and certain educated franchises have been quick to shut down young arms. One perfect example would be Felix Hernandez in Seattle. The King was brought up at the age of 20. However;as he was putting up incredible minor league numbers as a "teenager" in 2005 he developed shoulder bursitis and was put on the DL. After his inflammation subsided, he was called up and America saw the newest AL phenom at the age of 20. Following the Twins practice with Johan Santana, the Mariners let Hernandez work briefly his first year. In the following two years, Hernandez proved that he could own most American league batters. He possessed a 90 mph slider that was unhittable. It was also unsustainable for a 21 year old. Seattle wisely not only shut Felix down after his first bout of elbow pain, but took away his slider for 2 years. Felix who is now 25 is finally leaving the danger zone for pitchers.

But for every young arm that is shown this kind of attention, there are hundreds that get flat out "ABUSED". We saw in 1981 Billy Martin take 5 of the brightest pitchers in Baseball, Steve McCatty, Brian Kingman, Mike Norris,Rick Langford and Matt Keough and brutalize their arms all in one season. The group of pitchers made baseball history by setting the record for a pitching staff in complete games.(94)
By 1982 the "Class of 81" became the orthopedic ward of 82 leading the A's to a 5th place finish and the firing of Billy Martin as Manager and GM. None of the A's 81 staff ever came close to repeating their 81 performance.

In 2003 another Rookie phenom was brought up in Chicago. Mark Prior who was drafted as a 20 year old was brought up at the age of 22. 2003 was the year that made Major League clubs take a serious look at pitch counts. In 2003 the Rookie was averaging 113.4 Pitches per start during the regular season. In September Prior's pitch count went up to 126. Both Prior and Kerri Wood (Chicago Heat) would continue to work with high pitch counts thru the 2003 season. Prior would never repeat his Rookie year performance as a collision with Marcus Giles in 2004 would put him on the DL for what would be his primary residence for the rest of his MLB career. In 2004 while on the DL for an "Achilles strain" there were documented reports that Prior needed Tommy John Surgery. Both Prior and the Cubs denied this. Prior would return for short periods then return to the DL for pitching arm related injuries including a concussion fracture from a Brad Hawpe Line Drive.

Kerri Wood who DID have TJ surgery in 1999 came back in 2003 setting a career high in strike outs (266) and made the all-star team. In 2004 Wood sat out 2 months with a "Strained Triceps muscle". Wood's career would never recover from the punishment he took in 2003.

In Tim Lincecums first two full years of work he pitched 452.1 innings. By comparison; Felix Hernandez thru 381.1 in his first 2 full years at the Major league level. The additional 70 innings thrown by Lincecum averages out to 1050 pitches or an extra 525 pitches a season. In Hernandez's first year he thru 84.1 innings as opposed to Tim's 146.1 innings. Again, in their rookie seasons, Lincecum would throw almost 1000 pitches more than Felix.






STEPHEN STRASBURG was called up in June of this year. Washington has already said that they will INCLUDE the 21 year old Strasburg's minor league pitch count in his 2010 season and shut him down accordingly.


Tim Lincecum's recent problems come as no surprise to anyone who has been watching his usage by Bruce Bochy (who took the Giant's helm in 2007, Lincecum's rookie year)