Baseball Musings: Felix's Elbow

April 19, 2007

Felix's Elbow

It looks like Felix Hernandez stopped throwing in time:

"I think 10 to 20 days is a reasonable estimate," Khalfayan said when asked when Hernandez might again pitch in a game. "That's as good a news as you can get from an elbow injury."
If Hernandez continued to pitch with the strain, he could have stressed elbow so severely he would have required elbow-ligament replacement surgery.

The question for me is, was this caused by his mechanics? And if so, do the Mariners work on changing those to prevent this injury from recurring?

Posted by David Pinto at 09:38 PM | Injuries | TrackBack (0)

Comments

I hope this is not Francisco Liriano all over again.

Posted by: warning track power at April 19, 2007 10:01 PM

i've seen the bp guys comment on how terrible the king's mechanics are. the new delivery thing isnt something to tinker with while he's hurt...i dont think. but if they want to keep him for more than a couple of years without tommy john, then they have to try to change them soon.

Posted by: matt at April 19, 2007 10:42 PM

Hey David,

What is your opinion on workload management for young pitchers? I understand that pitching is intrinsically unnatural and risky, but it seems to me that we have enough information to know that a 20-year old should not be throwing 110 pitches per start in April.

Posted by: Steverino at April 19, 2007 11:13 PM

Is it just me, or does this seem to be happening to more and more pitchers lately? I don't remember hearing about this as often before...recently, it's almost become a common thing to the point where I'm starting to expect it. Maybe I'm just paying attention more to pitchers in the past couple years, but if it's actually increasing in frequency, then there's a problem somewhere that needs to be addressed.

Posted by: Devon Young at April 19, 2007 11:30 PM

I'm amazed/impressed that Felix had the maturity to stop when he did. Calling out the training staff to remove himself from a game is the last thing a pitcher wants to do, and goes against all their instincts.
It's a good thing he called out the staff after 1/3 of an inning and didn't try to "tough it out."
Not every 21-year-old phenom would be mature enouh to do it.

Posted by: notsellingjeans at April 20, 2007 12:25 AM

One theory (admittedly non-scientific) on why young pitchers are breaking down more in this generation:
-This current generation of twentysomethings didn't grow up playing as much baseball or throwing as much as the one before it did.
I think that pitchers in Nolan Ryan's generation were more likely to grow up playing baseball every day in the summer, and most of the year, building their arm strength all through their life.
Anecdotally and subjectively, I just feel that didn't happen as much with the current generation.
Therefore, there's somewhat of a shock to their arms and entire bodies when they are finally subjected to a demanding 200-inning workload at the pro level.

Posted by: notsellingjeans at April 20, 2007 12:31 AM

A second theory on young pitchers breaking down more than before:
It's never been harder to be a big league pitcher, or more demanding.

MLB offense is better/more disciplined than ever. This means that for pitcher to be effective, it requires more sliders/splitters/higher velocity pitches to get outs. All of which puts them at a greater injury risk.
20 years ago, you could get away with having Mark Redman's stuff, because offenses weren't as strong.
Pitchers were Mark Redman-type stuff aren't as likely to get injured. Greater velocity generally indicates greater injury risk too, because the motion requires more torque. Power pitchers break down more often than Zito/Glavine/Maddux types.

Posted by: notsellingjeans at April 20, 2007 12:37 AM

This is a particular problem with the Mariners. Absolutely kids this age shouldn't be throwing as many pitches as he is, but this is a familiar pattern with this team--they destroyed Bobby Madritsch the same way a few years ago. Ryan Anderson, Gil Meche, Joel Piniero, Rafael Soriano, the list goes on and on. I can't think of a single pitcher that came up with the Mariners and went on to have a good career (Derek Lowe might qualify, I can't remember if he came up from their system.) I've never gotten caught up in the Felix hype, as I've assumed all along that his career will be short and end in ugly fashion. By the way, this is the reason that the A's always outplay the M's, even with a much smaller budget. Everybody thinks it's due to Billy Beane's supposed brilliance, but the real reason is the A's are great at developing young pitchers, and the M's are one of the worst teams in the majors in this regard. If I was a baseball agent representing young pitchers, I'd tell them never to sign with the Mariners.

Posted by: beckya57 at April 20, 2007 01:47 AM

they should be throwing MORE pitches!!!

were pithcers this injury prone back in the pre-pitch count days? they are babied too much!

Posted by: ice at April 20, 2007 10:30 AM

i agree with this being a mariners problem as well...its not like theyve ever taken care of felix's arm

Posted by: matt at April 20, 2007 11:36 AM

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