This thread could have been started hundreds of times but this one really got me. Stanford sophomore RHP Cal Quantrill has a torn Ulnar Collateral Ligament which means he will undergo Tommy John surgery. Quantrill is the son of former major league pitcher Paul Quantrill and was in the discussion to be the top pick overall in the 2016 draft. Paul monitored his sons work load from the day he started pitching and did not allow him to throw a breaking ball until he reached college. College. He threw only fastballs and changeups as a young pitcher.

I have absolutely no idea what can be done to prevent this injury because it doesn't seem to matter how a pitcher is developed. Babied or overused, single or multiple sport athlete, good mechanics or bad. This surgery is inevitable.

Just pitch til it goes I guess, that is crazy.

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Pitch through it.

Pussification of America...

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kid's faking the symptoms to get on the table for preemptive tommy john.

I had it done over the weekend because you just never know.

It baffles me as well. My son is 13 now and plays serious travel ball. There is a significant amount of throwing over the course of the year in what essentially amounts to 10 months of baseball.

They have taught curve balls, but the motion is not a torque on the elbow. All of the the non fastball pitches are grip based. You do not achieve the deception and movement by changing your delivery. Rather, it is the way the ball is held in the hand.

I have no clue if this will help prevent arm injuries. They work a lot on strengthening the muscles and limiting pitch counts. HBO real sports did a special on this three years ago, and it was quite informative. Link if you're interested:


http://www.hbo.com/real-sports-with-bry ... ner.html#/

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Hawaii (fuck) You

Don't know if it would help, but I see a future where a flat surface replaces the mound.

A curveball is a very safe pitch to throw if thrown correctly. A slider is much more harmful because of all the stress it puts on the elbow.

60 minutes sports recently did a segment on pitching too that was really good. I looked but couldn't find a link.

That would change the game in significant ways. The height of the mound allows for a downward trajectory on pitches that makes hitting more difficult. I can't see flat surface pitching being a reality.

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pitching is not natural... if they could figure out which arms can sustain the torque/punishment required to throw 95 mph they'd save a lot of $$ on guys who can't physically take it

I don't see that happening either. If anything they should raise the mound. There is so much emphasis on velocity today. Everyone is trying to throw harder. Maybe raising the mound will give the pitchers more ways to get batters out rather than having to throw 95+.

I don't really see the big deal about this. In the "old days" didn't pitchers just go away because they couldn't throw anymore? It seemed like a pretty common thing, even when I was a kid. Now they can fix anybody up with a Tommy John surgery and they come back a year later.

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The answer always seems to be to limit pitches and better condition the pitchers for throwing. But perhaps the conditioning is the problem. They continue to get bigger and stronger, but last I checked you can't strengthen a ligament.

Cubs want the mound lowered and moved back so Addison Russell has a chance against RHP.

Better move would be to implement an electronic K zone. Umps getting into the groove with the way a pitcher's pitching and/or the crowd/the moment/the environment is feeling (Bumgarner in Game 7); Hitters chasing effectively wild pitches outside the zone b/c umps have expanded/inconsistent zones;all would diminish under an electronic strike zone.

The 60 minutes special touched on this. They interviewed Trevor Bauer who has a crazy conditioning program that does not include weight lifting but emphasizes stretching and extreme long toss. It would be nice if he can actually pitch well enough to hang around for a while so we can see the long term effects of his conditioning.

Is there a Tonya Jones surgery for underhand softball?

There is a Tonya Harding video that can induce vomiting.

The 911 call(s) induces laughter

Overhand throwing is an unnatural act. Like posting on the Chicago Sports Fan message board.

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Now there are reports that Zack Wheeler needs Tommy John surgery. Fuckingmotherfuckingmotherfucker

they could lower the batters box.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

Who gives a shit?

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Yeah I just saw that on ESPN, I am going to need to reevaluate for my fantasy baseball draft.

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I think that would exacerbate the problem. The rise of the slider as the basic breaking pitch is largely due to the lowering of the mound. The lower mound made it very difficult to throw an effective curveball, so guys started going to the slider and cutter which are much harder on the arm.

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With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

I saw Jim Kaat advocating for it on the MLB network. Never thought of it before that.

It's unbelievable. It just never ends.

I'm not playing fantasy baseball this year. It's gonna be really weird.

Draft on the 29th, have to make a wounded list so I don't draft one of these guys.

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You're taking this Zack Wheeler news pretty hard. Are both of you OK? Free hugs are available if either of you needs one. It'll be OK.

Not a good time to be a young pitching prospect / young pitcher.

How smart do Theo and Jed look?

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

Arrieta is scary. He's dependent on his slider.