Post by bigdawgs on Mar 11, 2014 9:52:18 GMT -5
It seems that there has been an explosion in MLB of pitching injuries and specifically the number of Tommy John surgeries.
In all his years with the Atlanta Braves, Leo Mazzoni witnessed 2 Tommy Johns. We are talking about Kerry Lightenberg and John Smolz. That is it...and we are talking about 15 or so years as the Braves pitching coach.
Right now, it appears that the Braves pitching staff might be a train wreck. Brandon Beachy has still not gotten over his Tommy John from two years ago. Kris Medlen may have the same problem again. Tim Hudson a couple of years ago, before leaving for the Giants. Johnny Venters and a bunch of others in the bullpen.
And it has by no stretch of the imagination been just the Braves. All across MLB you see the epidemic of major arm issues. Why? We have all this stuff with pitch counts and protecting these guys in the minors and then shutting them down when they reach the majors, even in the midst of a penant run.
Leo was on in Atlanta this morning as everyone waits on word about Medlen and Beachy as well as an update on Mike Minor. Mazzoni has always poo pooed the pitch count deal and his guys like Smolz, Glavine and Maddux support him on it. He says the problem is not the number of pitches, but the effort required for those pitches...in other words, they should not have to put max torque on each pitch to achieve the results they want.
I am not nearly smart enough to know the answer. But it is very clear that despite pitching far fewer innings at the MLB level, we are seeing a dramatic increase in injuries. Maybe the extra strain at the lower levels to include all these traveling squads when the kids are really young.
I don't know...your thoughts?
And we just now get word that there is some involvement with the ligament in Kris Medlen's arm so it looks like he is gone for another year. Really pisses me off as I love that kid.
In all his years with the Atlanta Braves, Leo Mazzoni witnessed 2 Tommy Johns. We are talking about Kerry Lightenberg and John Smolz. That is it...and we are talking about 15 or so years as the Braves pitching coach.
Right now, it appears that the Braves pitching staff might be a train wreck. Brandon Beachy has still not gotten over his Tommy John from two years ago. Kris Medlen may have the same problem again. Tim Hudson a couple of years ago, before leaving for the Giants. Johnny Venters and a bunch of others in the bullpen.
And it has by no stretch of the imagination been just the Braves. All across MLB you see the epidemic of major arm issues. Why? We have all this stuff with pitch counts and protecting these guys in the minors and then shutting them down when they reach the majors, even in the midst of a penant run.
Leo was on in Atlanta this morning as everyone waits on word about Medlen and Beachy as well as an update on Mike Minor. Mazzoni has always poo pooed the pitch count deal and his guys like Smolz, Glavine and Maddux support him on it. He says the problem is not the number of pitches, but the effort required for those pitches...in other words, they should not have to put max torque on each pitch to achieve the results they want.
I am not nearly smart enough to know the answer. But it is very clear that despite pitching far fewer innings at the MLB level, we are seeing a dramatic increase in injuries. Maybe the extra strain at the lower levels to include all these traveling squads when the kids are really young.
I don't know...your thoughts?
And we just now get word that there is some involvement with the ligament in Kris Medlen's arm so it looks like he is gone for another year. Really pisses me off as I love that kid.