Is Stephen Strasburg the next Mark Prior?

[oogabooga]

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.

They took the chance cause he was a generational talent and it was impossible to pass on him.

Seriously though, that really sucks for the nats.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5502866

WASHINGTON -- Stephen Strasburg has a torn elbow ligament and most likely needs Tommy John surgery, bringing the pitcher's promising rookie season to an abrupt end.

Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said Friday an MRI on the right elbow revealed a "significant tear."

Strasburg will travel to the West Coast for a second opinion, but Rizzo anticipates the 22-year-old right-hander will need the operation that requires 12 to 18 months of rehabilitation.

Strasburg Stephen Strasburg would have only 12 starts when and if he has reconstructive elbow surgery, a routine procedure in recent years. How others have fared after the operation:

"I look at the bright side," Rizzo said. "Tommy John surgery is a surgery that we've had great success at. The success rate for guys coming back from Tommy John and retaining their stuff is very good."

Strasburg was pulled from Saturday's game at Philadelphia when he grimaced and shook his wrist after throwing a changeup.

The Nationals initially called the injury a strained flexor tendon in the forearm, but an MRI taken Sunday raised enough questions for the Nationals to order a more extensive MRI in which dye is injected into the arm.

The No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 draft, Strasburg struck out 14 batters in a sensational major league debut in June. He is 5-3 with a 2.91 ERA and 92 strikeouts in 68 innings.

But he has had medical setbacks along the way, despite the team's best efforts to be as cautious as possible with their prized youngster. He was placed on the disabled list a month ago with inflammation in the back of his right shoulder. He was making his third start since returning from the DL when he had to leave the game against Philadelphia.

"The player was developed and cared for in the correct way, and things like this happen," Rizzo said. "Pitchers break down, pitchers get hurt and we certainly are not second-guessing ourselves. ... Frustrated? Yes. But second-guessing ourselves? No."

 

[SP33Demon]

Well the good news is that Tommy John isn't a bad thing other than it takes a full year to come back. If it was his shoulder, he'd be screwed.

 

[Uppsala9496]

Inverted W is bad. He might be lucky that it hurt him this early in his career so that he can make the necessary changes to motion while he is still really young. Bet you don't see him with an inverted W next season.
It'll be an off-season of rehab and a change to his delivery.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Bet you don't see him with an inverted W next season.
It'll be an off-season of rehab and a change to his delivery.

You won't see him next season at all. Tommy John surgery is usually at least a year and often 18 months or more. He won't be on a mound until 2012 at the soonest. But yeah, pretty good chance that they're going to try to change his mechanics.

 

[rcpratt]

Wow. I feel terrible for the guy and the Nats, but I am loving the rest (read: ESPN, Boras) of this. Hilarious.

 

[SP33Demon]

You won't see him next season at all. Tommy John surgery is usually at least a year and often 18 months or more. He won't be on a mound until 2012 at the soonest. But yeah, pretty good chance that they're going to try to change his mechanics.

Yep 2012 will be the year the Nats contend b/c it'll take them at least a year to convert Bryce Harper (this year's #1 pick) to outfield from catcher and develop the stud catching prospect they got from the Twins for Capps.

Next year will be sht though.

 

[aldamon]

Well the good news is that Tommy John isn't a bad thing other than it takes a full year to come back. If it was his shoulder, he'd be screwed.

His shoulder is bunk, too. Remember his first trip to the DL?

 

[JulesMaximus]

Who the hell is Mark Prior?

 

[rcpratt]

Yep 2012 will be the year the Nats contend b/c it'll take them at least a year to convert Bryce Harper (this year's #1 pick) to outfield from catcher and develop the stud catching prospect they got from the Twins for Capps.

Next year will be sht though.

I'd be surprised if Harper is up before the middle of '12. '13 is probably still more likely.

 

[sandorski]

Could be. Who is Mark Prior?

 

[AVAFREAK182]

from what I've seen, I dont see why hes called the phenom. yeah he can pitch fast, but he seems to have a lack of control.

hes nowhere near phenomenal, imo

 

[chitwood]

from wiki:

Mark Prior's pitching mechanics have been the subject of much attention throughout his career. As a prospect, his symmetrical, seemingly effortless delivery was widely regarded as mechanically efficient and sound. Prior's former personal pitching coach Tom House labeled the right-hander a "can't-miss" prospect.[13] However, after Prior suffered a series of debilitating arm injuries, many experts have re-examined Prior's delivery.

As easy and flowing as Prior's pitching mechanics seem to be, his arm action contains elements that some analysts believe to be hazardous. According to Chris O'Leary, a pitching mechanics analyst, Prior's injury problems are largely derived from his arm action. More specifically, they are due to Prior's Inverted W arm action,[14] in which he lifts his elbows above and behind the level of his shoulders. According to O'Leary, this creates a timing problem that places an undue stress on the muscles and ligaments of the shoulder and elbow.[15]

Similarly, Dick Mills, a former major league pitcher and co-author of The Science and Art of Baseball Pitching and Pitching.com, has speculated that Prior's injuries were a result of a movement known as scapular loading. Scapular loading is an arm action in which a pitcher's shoulder blades are pinched together and the elbows are taken behind, and sometimes above, the level of the shoulders. The idea that scapular loading is dangerous has been disputed by some in the field of athletic training.

 

[sandorski]

from wiki:

Mark Prior's pitching mechanics have been the subject of much attention throughout his career. As a prospect, his symmetrical, seemingly effortless delivery was widely regarded as mechanically efficient and sound. Prior's former personal pitching coach Tom House labeled the right-hander a "can't-miss" prospect.[13] However, after Prior suffered a series of debilitating arm injuries, many experts have re-examined Prior's delivery.

As easy and flowing as Prior's pitching mechanics seem to be, his arm action contains elements that some analysts believe to be hazardous. According to Chris O'Leary, a pitching mechanics analyst, Prior's injury problems are largely derived from his arm action. More specifically, they are due to Prior's Inverted W arm action,[14] in which he lifts his elbows above and behind the level of his shoulders. According to O'Leary, this creates a timing problem that places an undue stress on the muscles and ligaments of the shoulder and elbow.[15]

Similarly, Dick Mills, a former major league pitcher and co-author of The Science and Art of Baseball Pitching and Pitching.com, has speculated that Prior's injuries were a result of a movement known as scapular loading. Scapular loading is an arm action in which a pitcher's shoulder blades are pinched together and the elbows are taken behind, and sometimes above, the level of the shoulders. The idea that scapular loading is dangerous has been disputed by some in the field of athletic training.

Ah, a Tragedy rather than a Legend.

 

[waggy]

Ah, a Tragedy rather than a Legend.

wich is sad. the kid had a hell of a future. Same with wood but the cubs blew them out.

 

[sandorski]

crap, repost

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

obviously stephen strasburg would be next because mark was prior.

everyone knows this.

edit: i heard a lot of the young guys are getting tommy john even if they don't need the surgery because they come back throwing even faster. not sure if there's any truth to that.

 

[pyonir]

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

HA! I was thinking the same thing. Bet he'll still be in the top 5 for Cy Young votes this year.

 

[SP33Demon]

from what I've seen, I dont see why hes called the phenom. yeah he can pitch fast, but he seems to have a lack of control.

hes nowhere near phenomenal, imo

Wow are you serious? Strasburg had an amazing season so far, no starting pitcher is even close to his K/9 of 12.18.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=5503530

For one thing, it means an end to not merely one of the most dazzling seasons by a rookie pitcher in baseball history. It means an end to one of the most dazzling seasons by any kind of pitcher in baseball history, even though it didn't last nearly long enough.

Strasburg made just 12 major league starts. But in those 12 starts, he faced 274 hitters and struck out 92 of them.

The only starting pitchers who have ever, in any season of 10 or more starts, whiffed that high a percentage (33.6) of the hitters they faced were Pedro Martinez and Randy Johnson. Those two own eight Cy Young awards. There's a reason for that.