Tommy John Surgery

Have a question for you scouts out there! (And anyone that might know!!!!!)

If a young pitcher (freshman) has this type of surgery, recovers 100% and continues to perform well, will having this type of surgery affect how the College scouts look at him?

 

not a scout, but from talking to people in the game, colleges and scouts will probably be a little more wary of the kid.

but with the success of the surgery nowadays and the technological advances in the rehab process, the arm is many times stronger than before.

like i said, i'm sure the coaches and scouts would take it into account when evaluating the player, but it would definitely not kill their chances.

 

If a kid can pitch, he can pitch. I wouldn't be worried about it personally. This surgery has come so far just in the last couple of years. Rarely do you hear of recurring problems after this surgery as long as it has be rehabbed correctly. If a player has it at as a freshman and is throwing the ball well as a senior, I wouldn't see any reason to back off recruiting him.

 

Quite frankly, with the advanced surgery, you are finding masny MLB pitchers electing to have the surgery to extend their playing careers. What you have to understand is that the UCL will actually be stronger than ever. It is bigger, stronger and replaced in a way that should prevent future tearings.

Really, the only concern after TJ Surgery is to ensure that the player is taking care of the shoulder as well. The reason that many pitchers comeback stronger is because of the rehabbing of both the shoulder and elbow...and with a new UCL...many refer it to as a "bionic arm." Billy Kochs went from throwing 94-95 to attaining as high as 108. For some it is kind of like the movie "Rookie of the year"

 

It's amazing the amount of people that have had his surgery recently. all ages which is real scary. But it is what it is! While talking to them and getting as much info as I can, everything points to the same direction! Which is, after all is said and done, the arm WILL be stronger and he should be able to throw as hard as he once did, with a good chance of him being able to pick up a few MPH. 108 would be nice! Rehab, rehab, rehab! The EpiCenter & Alan Tyson will be seeing a lot of this kid for the next couple of months. We shall see!

 

Sadly tho...

from the many dozens of college and MLB coaches scouts i have talked too...they will balk at this and make the all importatnt note of it on there charts... Doesn t mean a kids excelling and persistence to get where he wants to go cannot stop him!

 

A much better and wiser question is "What is it about the traditional pitching motion that causes so much damage to the ulna collateral ligament that it must be replaced with a tendon from another part of the body?"

The answer is that many pitchers do not get their hand and the ball up to driveline height before they start their upper arm and elbow forward. The result is tremendous stress on the UCL as it overcomes the momentum of the ball moving backwards in order to make it move forwards.

The solution to the problem is getting the hand and ball up to driveline height BEFORE starting the upper arm and elbow moving forward. That way the stress on the UCL is dramatically reduced and the chances of damaging the UCL are reduced/eliminated too.

Why not spend time understanding the cause of the injury and working to prevent it instead of relying on surgery to fix the inevitable injury after it happens? Do you really want to spend a year in rehab recovering from the surgery before you can pitch again?

Also, once the UCL is replaced, if you don't change your throwing motion you will ultimately damage the surgically replaced UCL too!

 

I agree with everything but this. The studies show that few pitchers damage their "new" UCL. The majority of injuries point to shoulder problems...inherent to the lack of attention paid to the shoulder during rehab.

There are a myriad of reasons a pitcher tears their UCL...throwing motion is just one of them. The number one reason is "overuse"....genetics...off speed pitches are some others.

Anybody that has been pitching for 10-15+ years has put tremendous pressure on their elbow and shoulder. And those that have pitched a lot at young ages are more susceptible. At some point, most pitchers are one pitch away from visiting Dr Andrews; be it TJ, labrum or rotator cuff.

We have another thread about arm injuries and the causes. This thread is asking something different, so I will try not to get off topic.

 

I didn't ask for your advise as to how to fix, what's done is done! I am aware of the pitching motion and why it happened, .....

 

Sorry. I didn't mean to offend. Maybe I should have directed my post more specifically towards the baseball establishment - i.e. Major League teams, College teams, and their pitching coaches. Their willingness to embrace the "Tommy John" surgery rather than search for the cause of the injury is what I find surprising. They have decided that it is acceptable and preferable to pay for surgery and a year of rehab rather than change a throwing motion.

To respond to your original question, since the baseball establishment has seen an 80-85% success rate with the surgery/rehab I don't see how scouts could lower their performance evaluation of a player simply because the player has had the surgery. No doubt about it, the surgery does fix the UCL damage. If the player gets through the rehab he can be every bit as successful after the surgery as he was before it.