Stephen Strasburg won’t be picking up a baseball for the next 12 to 18 months, and when you peel back the curtain of high strikeout numbers, a 90 MPH changeup, and his calm intensity on the mound, we should’ve seen this coming. He has more in common with Mark Prior than just early career expectations and filthy stuff.
By Jake McCormick
For an “exclusive interview” with Strasburg’s damaged ulnar collateral ligament, go here
Strasburg’s impending Tommy John surgery is the culmination of a hype machine that drove the MLB to declare him the next Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, and Nolan Ryan all in one. He was deemed this generation’s defining pitcher…two months into his career. I’m expecting the next one to feature him in various cut scenes with Mark Prior, Kerry Wood, Jeremy Bonderman and Francisco Liriano.
The bottom line here is that no one wants to see such a humbled, heralded prospect suffer a major career setback in his rookie season. Strasburg doesn’t deserve this, the Washington Nationals don’t deserve this, and the fans especially, shouldn’t have to wait any longer to see a promising young pitching staff perform at full strength throughout the whole season. Perhaps what sucks the most about this tragic end to a historic debut campaign is the fact that all the right steps were taken to ensure Strasburg wouldn’t be put in this situation.
The Nationals front office can’t shoulder too much blame for Strasburg’s injury. He started the year in the minors, despite an impressive Spring Training that would’ve guaranteed any other young pitcher a spot in a Major League rotation, and has been under pitch counts and inning counts since he burst onto the scene striking out batters like Henry Rowengartner in “Rookie of the Year.” But even with the conservative approach, Strasburg’s delivery would have left him with high injury risks at any level of the Major Leagues.
Chris O’Leary, a pitching and hitting mechanics expert, has taken an extensive look at similarities between Mark Prior and Stephen Strasburg’s deliveries, most notably the Inverted W throwing motion that brings the elbows above the shoulders and results in high-risk scapular loading on the shoulder blades.
The Inverted W also creates a timing problem, where the planter foot lands and shoulders begin rotating before the pitching forearm reaches the proper vertical position, resulting in a whip-like effect on the arm that leads to increased injury risks in the shoulder and elbow.
Almost all great pitchers have some form of scapular loading, but if you look at any photos of Randy Johnson, Greg Maddux, or Nolan Ryan, their elbows are always below their shoulders. AJ Burnett, Mark Prior, John Smoltz, Anthony Reyes, and Jeremy Bonderman are just a few examples of pitchers with Inverted W throwing motions, and all have experienced varying success after suffering shoulder and/or elbow problems resulting from slight timing problems that aggravated their already high-risk wind ups.
I hope Stephen Strasburg has career success more similar to John Smoltz than Mark Prior, but his mechanics and upcoming Tommy John surgery will always stay in the back of fans’ minds every time he takes the mound for the rest of his career. The electricity that filled Nationals Park will be replaced with cautious optimism when he returns in 2012, and the hope and hype of Strasburg’s first 12 Major League starts probably won’t ever be duplicated.
There’s no telling how Strasburg will respond to this devastating injury, and there’s really no way to guarantee he will return with the same velocity, movement, and throwing motion. But if Strasburg and the Nationals want to limit the chances of reinjuring his elbow, or opening a bigger can of worms in the shoulders, something has to be done to tweak his pitching mechanics. Strasburg’s career, and the Nationals’ success, could very well depend on it.
For an “exclusive interview” with Strasburg’s damaged ulnar collateral ligament, go here
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