Anybody
who has followed baseball over the past few decades, in particular
the last decade or so, is bound to be familiar with Tommy John surgery.
For those who don’t know, the surgery is ulnar collateral ligament
reconstruction and more can be found
HERE.
We see it all the time on ESPN when big leaguers undergo the procedure,
but what is often left out is talk of the increasing
frequency in which amateur athletes are now dealing with when it comes to the procedure... and
arm issues in general.
I came across an article
on NJ.com citing a study of the likelihood of particular Major
Leaguers who are at risk of having to undergo the procedure. One of the
players high on the list, Marlins reliever
Carter Capps. Capps just had
Tommy John surgery on March 8.
What caught my attention was that Yankees starters Masahiro Tanaka,
Luis Severino and
Nathan Eovaldi are all at high risk too, according to the study.
The study
used certain factors, including previous Tommy John procedures, release
points and days on the disabled list with other arm issues. The
whole thing got me thinking about what some of the causes of these
injuries are and factors that could increase the likelihood of a UCL
injury. I reached out to a guy who is known as one of the leading experts in this field. Steve Hayward of
Baseball Health Network.
After
finishing up his playing career in the minor leagues, Hayward partnered with New York Yankees team physician Dr.
Christopher Ahmad who is a recognized expert in Tommy John surgeries and
elbow injuries. Together, they created Baseball Health Network. Their goal is to
reverse the trend in arm injuries by bringing baseball coaches, trainers
and doctors together in an attempt to keep players arms healthy.
Baseball Health Network just launched it's website, and I would highly recommend checking it out.
(In Photo: Steve Hayward, Dr. Ahmad)
While
talking with Hayward, great points were made. We discussed pitch counts and how the number of pitches a player throws
should not be determined by the league’s rules,
but by how prepared the
player is. Notice that's in bold. If, for example, a kid in youth baseball is allowed to throw 85 pitches in a
game, that doesn’t necessarily mean he should. If it’s game one and he
has maxed out at a 40 pitch bullpen, what would make you think he is
ready to rear back and throw 85 pitches? He did not build up his pitch
count and arm strength enough leading up to this first start. See what I mean?
And that leads us to the second point.
Pitchers need to throw often as the season approaches...
(In photo: Andrew Miller at Spring Training 2016)
BYB: If you had one thing to tell young pitchers about arm health and how to avoid injury, what would it be?
Steve Hayward: “Pitchers need to be conditioned to pitch, not pitch to get conditioned.”
It
may sound a little funny, but think about it; You don’t go out and run
two miles then decide you’re ready for the marathon, right? No. You
would build up stamina and strength over time so when the time comes to
run 26.2 miles, you have trained to get to that point without injuring
yourself. The same goes for your arm. You have to build up your strength
and stamina over time.
A lot of people preach taking
time off from pitching and both Hayward and I agreed on that point. But
there are many variables involved when talking about time off:
“
As
far as the no throw period, there is plenty of time to rest from
throwing throughout the year, a week here, a few days there, during each
season. It's not like your telling kids to throw every day, even every
other day. The sensible baseball people, that provide a sensible
schedule for their players recognize this. It's the not so sensible
people that schedule 55-60 games in 70 days I worry about.
The 'off season' throwing could be to throw a couple days a week, to maintain
conditioning and consistency. That throwing could be anywhere from 50%
to 75% intensity and as little as 30-40 total throws and anywhere from
30-60 feet. I'm not a doctor but I am a thrower and have been for over
30 years, I understand what makes throwing arms feel good and stay
healthy. My methods have been proven over the past 15 years and are the
reason one of the country's best doctors has partnered with me in
creating the Baseball Health Network.”
As for youth pitchers, age 15 and below say, one factor Hayward pointed to was simply physical strength and muscled mass. This is interesting...
Hayward said, “
Kids
these days just don’t have the strength. When you look at their
physical makeup, many young players are just not in very good shape.”
We
discussed how some players can’t even successfully execute five proper
push-ups. FIVE! These young athletes, by not having adequate strength,
make themselves very susceptible to growth plate injuries, which you can
read more about
HERE. This should be something all young players and their parents should really take a look at.
I’ve
seen it myself as a coach, and so has Hayward. Young players
have to condition their bodies by staying active, doing strength
exercises and baseball specific exercises like using arm bands
(correctly). Plus, diet's important! Eating a proper diet and getting adequate rest is a great thing.
Without the proper physical makeup, injury risks increase.
If
you think about the elbow, it is surrounded by the triceps, biceps and
forearms. Those muscles help keep the elbow held together. Without
adequate strength and flexibility in those muscles and ligaments, the
elbow could become a ticking time bomb.
A factor all of
us baseball people have encountered at one time or another is field
conditions. We have all had that mound that has a huge hole where the
pitchers landing spot is.
Having a poor landing spot, or filling it in
with unstable material like sand, adds to the risk of injury believe it or not. Hayward suggests the only way to fix
that is through the hard work of communities and its members.
For
us coaches, Hayward specifically mentioned the type of player we should
keep an eye on. We all want our kids to be tough and willing to battle
through discomfort and general soreness. I know I do. But one group of
players that Hayward suggested we strongly monitor are the kids who have 'huge stones’. You know, the ones who don’t admit when they're hurt, and play
through pain they shouldn’t. Young players, and older ones, need to
know the difference between being sore and being hurt. Slight muscle
fatigue and general soreness is expected after pitching, but players
need to know when to speak up and tell their coaches, trainers and
parents when they feel a pain. A sharp or biting pain should always be
looked at immediately.
Still there? Good, because this is one of my favorite points Hayward makes, and it is probably debatable depending on who you talk to:
‘There is healing power in throwing’.
Hayward:
“Throw. Throwing
(the day after pitching, while sore for example) below the threshold is
how I describe it. Throw at an intensity level that is tolerable. Throw
at a short distance, low to medium intensity for as long as it takes
for the arm to feel better.”
Hayward
and the folks he is working with at Baseball Health Network, including
Dr. Ahmad who performed Tommy John surgery on then Yankees right-hander
Chase Whitley in 2015, are attempting to create a one-stop shop for all your baseball
training needs to learn about off-season routine, season
maintenance, injury rehab among other things.
For instance, an
interesting development in the treatment of UCL injuries, in particular
of partially torn UCL’s, is the development of Platelet Rich Plasma, or
PRP, Therapy; the treatment that
Masahiro Tanaka
went through in the summer of 2014. It appears that this treatment is
becoming more common and effective. More info on PRP can be found
HERE and we will cover that topic more in the near future here on Bleeding Yankee Blue.
Look, someone
really needed to put this out there to raise awareness of this terrible
trend. While speaking with Hayward and corresponding with Dr. Ahmad, it
was easy to tell they are truly passionate, and want to make a difference in the
baseball world. Make sure you check out Baseball Health Network on
Facebook and Twitter too. Their handle is
@BaseballHealth.
Thank you very much for your time and effort in trying to tackle this issue head on, Coach Hayward. We applaud you here at Bleeding Yankee Blue.
To our BYB audience... yes, we are a Yankee website, but many of us have kids in baseball. Many of us have seen kid pitch longer than they should, kids hurt from arm injuries as well as the Yankees or athletes in general. It's great to have experts out there to provide this helpful information. That's why we wanted to bring it to you. And we will continue with much more down the road.
We hope you enjoyed this.
--Dan Lucia
BYB Senior Writer
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