Strasburg may need Tommy John surgery

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http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5502866

ugh...not the greatest news in the world.

Sorry if it's already been posted. Tried the search function to no avail.

[ixcuincle]

Was in Nats thread

It sucks and hopefully he gets better

Still a young talent though, has plenty of time

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yeah just saw it in the Nats thread.

if it's redundant, mods please remove.

[Stew]

Why do they call it "Tommy John" surgury?

[f_trizzy]

Why do they call it "Tommy John" surgury?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_John

['Skins_&_'Stons]

Why do they call it "Tommy John" surgury?

*edit* answered

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Why do they call it "Tommy John" surgury?

because pitcher Tommy John was the first one to successfully undergo the surgery.

[Pick6]

I totally called this a couple of weeks. All the talks about his throwing motion not being right make me wonder if he is going to have a long career.

[Zguy28]

Why do they call it "Tommy John" surgury?

I was curious myself, don't feel bad.

[styx491]

I don't know as much about baseball as I used to, so I was wondering if TJ surgery is more of a requirement or if it's more of a luxury. Did the Nats and Strat feel like they NEEDED to do this or was it more of a "Strat should get done this just to be safe"? I guess it could be both, but iyo, what mindset is more prevalent in the MLB?

[MattFancy]

I don't know as much about baseball as I used to, so I was wondering if TJ surgery is more of a requirement or if it's more of a luxury. Did the Nats and Strat feel like they NEEDED to do this or was it more of a "Strat should get done this just to be safe"? I guess it could be both, but iyo, what mindset is more prevalent in the MLB?

He has a significant tear, so it's probably the only way to fix it. It seems like Tommy John surgery has been improved lately because before it seemed like it was a career ender to get it. But not plenty of pitchers have had it and come back fine.

[expensivegift]

Said it before multiple times in the Nats board.

Strasburg = Mark Prior version 2.0. He has a mechanics problem and his elbow will continue to be messed up if this isn't addressed. Doesn't matter how much or less he pitches. He's a ticking time bomb if his mechanics are fixed. We'll see if the Nats are competent enough to realize this. My bet is, they continue to be ignorant.

http://www.chrisoleary.com/projects/baseball/pitching/professionalpitcheranalyses/StephenStrasburg.html

[Stew]

because pitcher Tommy John was the first one to successfully undergo the surgery.

cool, thanx. Sucks for Strauss, though they say he should be able to retain his heat, so.....

Do most pitchers go through a drop off after the surgury? I really don't know much about it, but that would suck for everyone if Straussberg turns out to be a shell of what he was before the injury... all that handling with kid gloves and he still gets hurt. Hindsight I guess. Wish I could have got to see him really let the ball fly once, no pitch count.

[Larry Brown #43]

Do most pitchers go through a drop off after the surgury? I really don't know much about it, but that would suck for everyone if Straussberg turns out to be a shell of what he was before the injury...

These days most pitchers actually come back even better than they were before the surgery. Which could be really scary in Strasburg’s case. These days some pitchers want to get the surgery just because they think it’ll enhance their performance after they recover.

This is bad news for the Nats in 2011, but long-term it’s good news that he’s getting this out of the way now.

[Sticksboi05]

Gotta hope he makes a full recovery because the Nationals aren't contending next season anyway. Regardless, I changed back my sig accordingly. I think we should keep John Wall in a bubble, like the bubble boy.

[richard saunders]

So sad......

[Bang]

All I can think of is that thread a couple months back about his super duper awesomely awesome rookie card sold for over a million bucks on ebay.

Hope he's OK, but as to the card collector...

~Bang

[Sticksboi05]

Good thing is that with today's technology he will know exactly what is happening, the effects and how to adjust. Until then, we have to hope that by next spring he'll be playing catch and then hope that he maintains command.

[MattFancy]

All I can think of is that thread a couple months back about his super duper awesomely awesome rookie card sold for over a million bucks on ebay.

Hope he's OK, but as to the card collector...

~Bang

Yeah that dude has to feel like an idiot now

[Larry Brown #43]

There's even a growing trend among high school pitchers trying to get the procedure done, even if they don't really need it, because they believe it'll add a few MPH to their fastball. Kind of disturbing, but it is true.

Anyone who thinks this is a major career setback for Strasburg is misinformed.

[SKOALSKIN]

Seven pitchers at the 2010 MLB All-Star Game had TJ surgery: T. Hudson, C. Carpenter, J. Johnson, J. Soria, R. Soriano, A. Rhodes and H. Kuo

[Sticksboi05]

Dr. Kaplan on ESPN: 75% of elite pitchers come back after the surgery with their full skill set intact.

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yeah the days of tommy john surgery being a career ender are gone.

nowadays, it really does seem to get pitchers back to where they were, if not better.

[Larry Brown #43]

From Nats Journal:

Ten pitchers who underwent Tommy John surgery made the All-Star Game this year.

"What we're dealing with here is something that's very manageable," Scott Boras, Strasburg's agent, told colleague Dave Sheinin. "I've had so many clients who pitched until they're 40 have issues like this in their early 20s. I've had a number of clients who feel fine and then, boom, [the elbow] goes, and then they have [the surgery] and they come back and they're fine. As a matter of fact, in the majority of cases, they're better."

Chris Carpenter, the starter who nearly won the Cy Young last year, pitched at Nationals Park last night. Jamie Garica, the starter who might be rookie of the year this season, will pitch tonight. Both had Tommy John surgery.

[BeachSkin]

I guess not so fast on that Hall of Fame induction...