Is Stephen Strasburg the next Mark Prior?

[drebo]

So Strasburg's on the DL again with a strain in his pitching elbow.

His pitching form is the same controversial "inverted W" that Mark Prior had.

Anyone else think we might see Strasburg follow in those footsteps? Two DL stints in your first half season is pretty bad. I guess we'll see what happens next year, but I give it about a 50/50 split right now that Strasburg remains effective for more than one more year.

 

[waggy]

so is he the next pitcher that the coaches ruin? damn hope not

 

[SearchMaster]

so is he the next pitcher that the coaches ruin? damn hope not

You can't blame this one on the Nats coaching/management. They've been extremely cautious with him, his pitch counts, etc.

 

[Lamont Burns]

Coaches ruined Wood, nor Prior.

Plus Riggleman learned his lesson with Wood... I think.

 

[drebo]

Kerry Wood's been pretty effective as a reliever, too.

And while Prior did throw a lot of pitches, other pitchers in the past and present have and continue to throw just as many.

Maybe it's a combination: pitch count and mechanics. The Nats, though, have been cautious with him.

 

[shocksyde]

How about we let the kid play next season and THEN decide if he's the next Mark Prior?

 

[waggy]

Coaches ruined Wood, nor Prior.

Plus Riggleman learned his lesson with Wood... I think.

personally i think they blew both wood and prior out.

 

[MattCo]

His pitching form is the same controversial "inverted W" that Mark Prior had.

Isn't an "inverted W" just a M?

 

[anxi80]

perhaps its the beginning of a san diego pitchers curse? prior and strasburg, both of them promising pitchers from san diego. hell add matt bush in there if you'd like; a promising shortshop-turned-pitcher who had tommy john and then decided that fighting high school kids while drunk was more fun than baseball.

 

[BeauJangles]

No, unlike the Cubs, the Nationals are bieng smart with Strausburg. If these kind of injuries persist, though, Strausburg might have to back off that 97 mph heat more often than not.

Isn't an "inverted W" just a M?

I've always heard scouts refer to it as inverted W, no idea why.

For people that have no idea wtf inverted W is:

Mark Prior

Stephen Strausburg

Versus

CC Sabathia

Roy Halladay

Elbows above the shoulders, forming the upside down W = bad (supposedly).

 

[Miramonti]

Given how they were annointing him earlier in the year, I thought he was elected to the HOF already.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Arm trouble this early and after so few innings is always a bad sign. He can go on to have a long and healthy career, but it's definitely against the odds.

 

[rcpratt]

It's too early to be thinking too seriously about this. I have nothing against the guy, but after the never-ending ESPN lovefest, I'd be lying if I said I didn't find this slightly amusing.

 

[Double Trouble]

I think there are just limitations to the human body, and he's throwing the ball at the level where he's pushing the envelope. Guys like that are bound to get hurt. The only exception I can think of is Nolan Ryan, who pitched 100mph heat for like 50 years

 

[rcpratt]

No, unlike the Cubs, the Nationals are bieng smart with Strausburg. If these kind of injuries persist, though, Strausburg might have to back off that 97 mph heat more often than not.



I've always heard scouts refer to it as inverted W, no idea why.

For people that have no idea wtf inverted W is:

*snip*

Although it's not quite as pronounced, if you want some more scary evidence...Mr. Joel "Zoom-Zoom" Zumaya. Freakish enough to break a bone in his elbow just by throwing, which isn't even supposed to be possible...

 

[Sho'Nuff]

Although it's not quite as pronounced, if you want some more scary evidence...Mr. Joel "Zoom-Zoom" Zumaya. Freakish enough to break a bone in his elbow just by throwing, which isn't even supposed to be possible...

Back in the day, I was a pretty solid pitcher. Threw in the low 90's with the inverted W form. That was, until I tore the post medial epicondle tendon completely off the bone in my pitching elbow. Five years after getting it repaired, my right humerus snapped in the middle of a pitch (ala Dave Dravecky, but without the cancer). There might be something to the theory that the inverted W is more stressful on an arm than a different mechanic.

 

[anxi80]

Although it's not quite as pronounced, if you want some more scary evidence...Mr. Joel "Zoom-Zoom" Zumaya. Freakish enough to break a bone in his elbow just by throwing, which isn't even supposed to be possible...

its official now with zumaya as another example. san diego pitcher + inverted w pitching style = injury disaster.

 

[waggy]

I think there are just limitations to the human body, and he's throwing the ball at the level where he's pushing the envelope. Guys like that are bound to get hurt. The only exception I can think of is Nolan Ryan, who pitched 100mph heat for like 50 years

thats because Nolan Ryan is actually a terminator that got list in the time stream. instead of thinking he had to kill sara conner he thought he had to pitch in teh major leagues.

really the guy was a freak. not only was he a hell of a pitcher he was a tough one. i love the picture of him with a guy in a headlock beating his ass.

 

[oogabooga]

its official now with zumaya as another example. san diego pitcher + inverted w pitching style = injury disaster.

dooom!

 

[TallBill]

http://www.chrisoleary.com/projects...nkingPitching/Essays/DeathToTheInvertedW.html

 

[meltdown75]

yes

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Latest MRI shows a torn ligament and probable need for Tommy John reconstructive surgery.

 

[swanysto]

It's too early to be thinking too seriously about this. I have nothing against the guy, but after the never-ending ESPN lovefest, I'd be lying if I said I didn't find this slightly amusing.

That is exactly my feelings when the Red Sox and Yankees lose.

 

[oddyager]

Too early to say. When he lands back on the DL next year with arm/elbow problems then perhaps.

 

[SP33Demon]

Latest MRI shows a torn ligament and probable need for Tommy John reconstructive surgery.

Holy fck, already? They were just talking about Tommy John surgery last night on mlbtv and how it took Liriano (Twins) two years to get back to his normal dominance. This is horrible news for baseball, luckily Strasburg is super young and will be much stronger in 2 years. Wow, the Nats are cursed... scouts should have been using the scientific pitching models and identified the flaw in the mechanics. Amazing they couldn't see this coming after all of the scientific analysis of mechanics that contributed to the downfall of Kerry Wood and Prior.