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Very Interesting Article And A Great Chance To Argue
Just read this article in the AJC and found it fascinating. It deals with pitching in baseball and what advanced analytics has wrought with the way pitchers are used. Some very interesting stats, especially with Greg Maddux. I thought it might give us something other than politics to argue about - at least for a short while. Some cool Maddux quotes and Leo Mazzone quotes, too.
Comments
If a team had a top 3 of Prime Randy Johnson, Prime Clayton Kershaw, and prime Pedro Martinez and they were the nucleus of your pitching staff for 10 years. 10 prime years with those 3. How many World Series do you win?
Thanks for posting article. Unfortunately I wasn't able to open it because I need to subscribe to the AJC.
I have a 6'5" fourteen year old who is a very good pitcher. There is so much conflicting information out there about the best way to develop young pitchers that it's difficult to know what is right.
How often they should throw, how long should they be shut down or should they even be shut down, and when they should start throwing breaking balls and how often.
We have decided to be very conservative with my son and we shut him down for long periods of time and limit how many breaking pitches he throws - and he didn't learn the breaking pitch until he was 13. Don't know if that is the right way or not. But I'm confident that over using a 14 year old boy to help win major or AAA tournaments isn't in their best interest.
I don't know the right answer but I do know there are a whole lot more arm injuries now than there used to be.
I dont understand having kids play 50 games. Even some 8 year olds play that much on travel teams. It cannot be good. When you visit the sports medicine doctors the room is actually full of people with gray hair rather than athletes. The doctors explain that rotator cuff injuries are from use and just wearing down over time, so yeah - over use at such a young age is going to lead to more arm and shoulder injuries. It should be a “well, duh” moment for parents to think about before they let their kid pitch in so many games, much less throw a breaking ball.
It really is unbelievable. My sophomore daughter came to me at the end of the summer and said she didn't want to play select softball anymore- she was tired of it. It hurt at first until I realized she was doing it for me. I felt like an a$$. So I'm both aware of the problem and part of the problem.
Today is day one of school softball practice. I coach the high school team. This is the most excited my daughter has been to start a softball season because for the first time in 8 years she had a break. And she knows when the school season is over she'll have another long break.
That makes me happy. On the other hand - I also know that she wouldn't have played as a freshman or earned all district as a freshman if she hadn't played so much in prior years.
I don't know the right answer. But her being happy and enjoying it is very important to me.
Coming from someone who partially tore their UCL I can assure you you're doing the right thing! And I would tell you to be more afraid of lack of rest than throwing breaking pitches. I have pinpointed my injury to overexposure from about a 6 week stretch during my 17yo summer. Not sure if your son plays in other sports but I would also advise you to not let him specialize, play everything!
Great advice. He also plays football and basketball and will probably play all three through high school.
Just a few years ago the notion that having Tommy John surgery was actually good for a pitcher had gained popularity.
Now research makes it clear having 1 surgery doubles the chances you'll need a second surgery. I'm with those who limit a young person's innings and use of the most damaging pitches. Tommy John surgery has been around a long time, yet there still isn't a single pitcher who had it in The HOF.
Wrong, but you will probably still argue otherwise.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2015/07/08/john-smoltz-hall-of-fame-tommy-john-surgery/29874857/
Me argue, you're clearly being your usual dic self. I'm guessing whoever wrote the article I read meant players who had TJ early in their careers, or perhaps it was about starting pitchers.
Sounds like a stud!
Great find. I've actually read that article and I believe Smoltz makes more sense than most.
I absolutely agree that the biggest problem is that kids are throwing way too hard. My son has great velocity but he doesn't throw hard. He is 6'5" but his legs are so long even at that height (38" inseam with jeans). His stride is long and his mechanics are good.
We play against pitchers that are much smaller and throwing with everything they have. They throw hard but you can't help but wonder at what cost.
Or written prior to 2015. Smoltz is the one and only, so the point you were making is still valid - and we now have a documented case where you were 100% wrong about something
On this day in history....
He's good at all - probably not great yet at any. If I can somehow convince him that he is not a stud he'll have a better chance of eventually making it in one of the sports.
He is the best athlete at that size that I have ever coached. But I have coached countless kids that work harder and that could be his downfall.
I have actually given up coaching football as of a couple weeks ago because he would have been in my position group next season and he needs to hear a different voice.
sorry for the misspelling in the title. Didn't know how to edit - the usual ic
Some things Leo Mazzone has said (not necessarily in the article)
1. Avoid throwing as hard as possible every pitch. 85%-90% is hard enough.
2. work on control.
3. Play other sports for overall bodily development - weakness in body parts/sections causes one to over use other body parts to compensate - in pitchers it is often the arm that is used to compensate. Maybe I can find another way to present the article. I really thought it worth reading.
I reviewed a long list of pitchers who had TJS and the only pitcher I saw who had it and made The HOF is Smoltz.
Billy Wagner probably should be in, but he had the surgery near the end of his career. There are a few position players in the HOF who had TJS though.
Many who had it, Kerry Wood being a prime example never recovered fully. David Wells had it early in his career and had his seasons afterward. While not a HOF level pitcher, he was very good. He never had a big arm though, he used placement and smarts.