Strasburg likely to have Tommy Johns Surgery

[J.B.]

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

This is terrible news.

Hopefully he can bounce back, but it's doubtful that he will ever be the same. It's a damn shame.

yeah, that is unbelievable ... lucky he signed that contract, but still, the stuff he had even when he wasn't 100% was sick ... imagine a few years in the league??

[J.B.]

Some pitchers can bounce back, but he's gonna have to refine how approaches his game. He's not gonna be able to throw 100 mph fastballs all game long, and he's going to lose a lot of momentum simply from the layoff which will likely put him out for all of 2011.

Kerry Wood 2.0

[J.B.]

Originally Posted by matthughesfan21

Kerry Wood 2.0

No doubt

Originally Posted by J.B.

No doubt

Stras will be back, but just like Wood, he will struggle at times and have recurring injuries....He just throws too hard and he threw his fastball to often at too young of an age...The arm can't handle it

Originally Posted by J.B.

Some pitchers can bounce back, but he's gonna have to refine how approaches his game. He's not gonna be able to throw 100 mph fastballs all game long, and he's going to lose a lot of momentum simply from the layoff which will likely put him out for all of 2011.

it's not the fastball that's the big problem, it's his mechanics....Just like Kerry Wood, his mechanics expose the UCL to potential stress(the UCL is stressed during any overhead throwing motion, but more so in situations like this with poor mechanics)

If the UCL reconstruction is successful and he refines his mechanics, it's quite possible that he could be throwing harder, but if he doesn't change the way he throws, he'll be a career DL kind of guy


Has anyone seen Aroldis Chapman throw? He is the Reds AAA guy now, but he'll be up for September call-ups...He struggled in a starting role, but now he is closing and is dominant. He is a lefty which helps also...He throws absolute smoke with a good slider also...In a closers role, he could be like the next Billy Wagner(his good days)

Chapman's fastball last week was clocked by 2 seperate radar guns at 105mph that is absolutely insane, and his slider sits in the low 90s consistently

I'm looking forward to seeing this guy in the bigs

[J.B.]

Mechanics are definitely an issue when you throw the ball with that kind of delivery, but when you mix some bad mechanics in with a kid who throws as hard as he does, as often as he does, it's a recipe for disaster. He may be able to come back and throw harder at first, but ultimately he's more than likely gonna lose a step, and trying to continue throwing that hard will probably just cause it deteriorate even faster. That's not to say he can't come back and have a brilliant career, but this is a definite setback.

I heard of that Champman guy a couple weeks ago, haven't checked him out yet.

Originally Posted by J.B.

Mechanics are definitely an issue when you throw the ball with that kind of delivery, but when you mix some bad mechanics in with a kid who throws as hard as he does, as often as he does, it's a recipe for disaster. He may be able to come back and throw harder at first, but ultimately he's more than likely gonna lose a step, and trying to continue throwing that hard will probably just cause it deteriorate even faster. That's not to say he can't come back and have a brilliant career, but this is a definite setback.

I heard of that Champman guy a couple weeks ago, haven't checked him out yet.

Curveballs and sliders actually put more strain on the UCL than a fastball does, but when you mix in the offspeed pitches with a 100mph fastball all while having poor mechanics, its no wonder this didn't happen sooner

[J.B.]

Originally Posted by matthughesfan21

Curveballs and sliders actually put more strain on the UCL than a fastball does, but when you mix in the offspeed pitches with a 100mph fastball all while having poor mechanics, its no wonder this didn't happen sooner

Yeah, but when you watch that kid release, all of his pitches basically have the same look where his elbow is higher than his shoulder weather he is throwing a curveball, slider, or fastball. It's not that it's JUST the fastball, but rather the fact that he throws as HARD as he does ALL the time. I agree, it's surprising this didn't come sooner.