Brandon Beachy, Kris Medlen, Jarrod Parker, David Hernandez,
Patrick Corbin, Jameson Taillon, and Bobby Parnell are just some names of
pitchers that have had or are going to have the dreaded Tommy John surgery this
season. According to the list on Baseball Heat Maps, already 16 pitchers have
had the surgery this year and Taillon is not on that list yet so we will eventually
be making it 17 pitchers.
It seems that in the past few years there are more and more
pitchers that are having this surgery. The question everyone is asking is why?
Teams are shutting down their young pitchers towards the end of the year so
their inning count isn’t too high. Teams are also setting pitch counts for
their pitchers and not letting them go deep into ball games. There are so many
things being done to limit pitcher injuries but there has been a huge spike in
surgeries over the last few years.
One executive has recently come out and said he has a
solution; we should cut the length of games to 7 innings. As a baseball purist,
who doesn’t even like the DH, I absolutely hate that idea. We shouldn’t be
messing with the game of baseball especially doing something that extreme. Even
if we were to change the amount of innings that were played I am not sure that
would really help. As I stated before teams are doing all they can to shut
pitchers down and limit their pitches.
I believe there are a few reasons for the spike in injuries.
We live in an era where baseball is being played year round. The older
generation would play other sports rather than just focusing on one. Playing
year round puts more stress on the underdeveloped arms of young ball players. I
also think that pitchers just want to get the surgery out of the way. You will
read articles that say the pitcher opted for the surgery without trying therapy
first. I am completely ok with this because really you are just wasting time
that could go into rehabbing from the surgery because you will probably end up
getting it anyway.
I have some personal experience with this situation. Back in
December I had a MRI and it was found that I had bone chips and a partially
torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL). I was scheduled to have elbow
reconstruction surgery (Tommy John surgery) but the day before the procedure I
was called in by the doctor and was told he just wanted to remove the bone
chips. I, like most pitchers, wanted the surgery because I figured my UCL was
torn and I needed it. The doctor explained to me that most pitchers actually
have torn UCLs it just matters how much its torn if they can throw with it or
not. Mine was only partial torn so he said removing the bone chips should allow
me to throw pain free and would only be 3-6 months of rehab rather than 10-12
months.
It’s sad to hear about all these pitchers having to have
this surgery. It really hurts their team’s chances for the year they get it because
of the lengthy rehab but Tommy John surgery has changed the game of baseball.
It is allowing pitchers with these injuries to have a longer career which is
something that everyone wants.
Zachary Hoffmann – Shaping the minds of America’s youth just waiting for an owner to call and give him a job as their GM. Don’t forget to follow him on twitter @zhoffmann1
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