Along with the debut of replay, the other big story that has dominated the start of this baseball season has been the abundance of elbow injuries by pitchers. The list of pitchers that have had to have Tommy John surgery this season is alarmingly high. It's somewhere around 15 right now, and we aren't even through April yet!
And that doesn't even include guys like Matt Harvey who currently aren't playing while they rehab from a Tommy John. Or your Stephen Strasburgs, the guys who've had TJ at some point. No, I'm talking specifically about the sheer number of serious elbow injuries that have required Tommy John surgery since the start of Spring Training 2014 alone. And it's not just the exorbitant number. Some of these guys are having a second Tommy John surgery!
Of course, Tommy John surgery is a good thing. Before it became commonplace, the only real options that pitchers had were to pitch through the pain or retire. During the Yankee game the other day, when Al Leiter and David Cone were the analysts, they were talking about Ivan Nova (who's having Tommy John surgery on Tuesday). Leiter and Cone basically came to that conclusion. There obviously were elbow injuries in the '50s and '60s. There was just not really anything that could be done about them. And without guaranteed contracts, the options were fairly limited.
But Al Leiter also made a really good point. He noted that pitchers tear ligaments in their arm every time they take the mound. It makes sense. Those ligaments are so small that you'd imagine it's probably fairly easy to tear one. In fact, it wouldn't be that much of a stretch to say that you don't even need to be a pitcher to tear these tiny ligaments. They're so minute, regular people can probably tear them simply by going about their everyday routine. Basically, what Leiter was saying is that it's not surprising to hear pitchers tear these arm ligaments. That's one of the reasons starters are given five days off before pitching again.
Tommy John himself wants to organize a "class picture" of all the pitchers who've had the surgery. Dr. Frank Jobe, the doctor who saved John's career with what was then a revolutionary procedure, passed away a few months ago. This is also the 40th anniversary of that first procedure. That's what makes this year's trend even freakier. I'm sure it's just coincidence, but it's weird all the same.
John's career was the first of many that have been extended as a result of the surgery, but even John is alarmed by the current trend. The rate seems disproportionate. Every time you hear about a pitcher going on the DL, you have a feeling you know the reason. You might hope it's something else. Or that rehab can do the trick. But you also know that once they start wondering "if" it might require surgery, the "when" becomes inevitable.
There are plenty of theories as to why this trend is developing, and I think the one John suggested makes a lot of sense. (When it comes to Tommy John surgery, I'm listening to Tommy John.) He insinuated that it wasn't the act of throwing pitches in the Major Leagues that screws up your elbow. It's doing that act repeatedly on your way to the Major Leagues. Your arm is not designed to make the motion of throwing a baseball overhand over and over again. Yet you have these baseball academies and travel teams and private coaches that make it possible to play the game year-round. Well, you know what? Pitching year-round year after year is going to take its toll, especially if you start that routine at an early age.
I agree with Tommy John. Once these guys get to the Majors, their elbows have simply had enough. That's why, for the most part, you end up seeing young, in their prime pitchers suffering these kind of injuries instead of veterans. That might even help explain why so many pitchers end up having Tommy John surgery more than once.
People also know that Tommy John surgery works. Most pitchers who have the procedure end up coming back even stronger than they were before. That might be part of the problem, too, though. Why do you think guys who might need to have it again don't hesitate at all? Even those who contemplate whether or not they should have TJ usually end up having it. I'm not saying these injuries aren't serious. They wouldn't be discussing Tommy John surgery if they weren't. What I'm saying is that the decision whether or not to have Tommy John surgery is usually an easy one. Whether that's good or bad, I'm not sure.
The thing that I do know is this trend is disturbing. Not because of the number of Major League pitchers that end up missing a year-plus while they rehab from Tommy John. Injuries are a part of the game. But the age of these pitchers and the number of college/high school pitchers having the same problems is the really disturbing part.
Until something's done to actually let these guys rest their arms and not play baseball 24/7/365, the trend's only going to continue. Rest. At a young age. That's the only way to curb the abundance of Tommy John surgeries.
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