Dr Andrews' position statement on Tommy John "epidemic"

[Guest]

Regarding the seeming rash of torn UCLs and Tommy John surgeries afflicting pitchers this year, two preeminent leaders in the field -- Dr. James Andrews and Dr. Glenn Fleisig of the American Sports Medicine Institute -- have a released a position statement on the subject.

While I encourage you to click through and read the entire paper, here are some highlights, some of which are unsurprising and intuitive and some of which may not be:

- UCL injuries in pros usually appear to be cumulative -- i.e., much of the damage was done during the amateur years;

- There's little relationship between elbow injuries and curveball use by young pitchers;

- Lowering the mound probably won't help;

- Young amateur pitchers who play catcher on off days appear to be at greater risk;

- Pitchers should not pitch with maximum effort at all times, and that goes for side work as well as games;

- Among pro pitchers, participation in winter league baseball is to be discouraged;

- Use of PEDS may make the pitcher's surrounding muscles too strong for the UCL.

There's more, of course. In all, this is probably the most important and least speculative commentary upon these matters in a long time.

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/eye-on-...-john-epidemic

http://www.asmi.org/research.php?page=research&section=TJpositionstatement

That's the link for the whole statement

[Slateman]

I'd really like to see the raw data. Especially the part about playing catcher.

[Senser81]

All I know is that anything called "Position Statement" is probably in reference to an upcoming lawsuit.

[Guest]

Or he's coming out with a pitching app

Renowed orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews is teaming with a colleague of his, Dr. Kevin Wilk, to create an iOS application that will help educate youth players, parents and coaches on how to best prevent arm injuries, reports Stephania Bell of ESPN.com.

The app will be called "Throw Like a Pro" and will reportedly be available in the next few weeks. Dr. Andrews and Dr. Wilk have studied the subject for years and will also include input from the American Sports Medicine Institute in an effort to help curb the growing number of arm injuries to young pitchers -- especially those still playing youth-level baseball.

The app will include a pitch counter with a rest calculator. That is, if a pitch count is entered -- whether large or small -- the calculator will let a player know when he can safely get back on the hill. Everything in this section will be age-based, as the guidelines obviously change according to the age of the pitcher.

There will also be a preseason preparation guide and pregame warmup routine, along with video instruction and mistakes that should be avoided.

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/eye-on-...h-pitching-app

[nickp50010]

I'd really like to see the raw data. Especially the part about playing catcher.

The catching on off days makes sense. Kid's arm never has the chance to rest. I don't care if they are throwing the ball back to the pitcher at 75% strength. With that said, 20+ years of baseball, I never saw a P/C (90% of the time P/1B).

[Slateman]

The catching on off days makes sense. Kid's arm never has the chance to rest. I don't care if they are throwing the ball back to the pitcher at 75% strength. With that said, 20+ years of baseball, I never saw a P/C (90% of the time P/1B).

Didn't Weiters close in college?

[nickp50010]

Didn't Weiters close in college?

After looking him up, he sure did. With that said, I have never seen him play (didn't even know who he was). Again, 20+ years playing baseball (30+ years watching) I have never seen a P/C. Obviously the combination exists.

Edit : I have seen numerous times a pitcher warming up another pitcher by being a catcher.

[Guest]

Wieters may be a bad example. Next to Molina, the best arm behind the plate in the game, but Wieters is also potentially facing TJ surgery.