Question

I'm not claiming to be an expert, but could it have something to do with their mechanics?

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Why? Was having the "fresh arm" not a good thing?

Through much scientific research I have concluded that throwing a baseball as hard as you can is bad for your arm...regardless of its expiration date.

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4 players that I know of, all converted to pitchers in college, one in HS

same team?.....same pitching coach?

I don't understand the question. Are you asking why did these kids who had fresh arms until HS or college end up developing arm problems? Or are you asking why did these kids with arm problems get drafted over kids without arm problems?

quote:

Originally posted by deemax:
Through much scientific research I have concluded that throwing a baseball as hard as you can is bad for your arm...regardless of its expiration date.

quote:

Originally posted by deemax:
Through much scientific research I have concluded that throwing a baseball as hard as you can is bad for your arm...regardless of its expiration date.

quote:

Originally posted by Roger Tomas:
I don't understand the question. Are you asking why did these kids who had fresh arms until HS or college end up developing arm problems? Or are you asking why did these kids with arm problems get drafted over kids without arm problems?

They got drafted because they threw heat and had success on the mound.

But put very little time in as pitchers. I was just wondering what could have caused problems, poor mechanics, throwing too hard too soon, not developing the proper muscles?

I don't know the answer, was just curious why fairly 'new oitching arms" would have had problems, or would they have had problems anyway?

They did not go to the same school, and one came from HS.

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Originally posted by Tiger Paw Mom:

quote:

Originally posted by Roger Tomas:
I don't understand the question. Are you asking why did these kids who had fresh arms until HS or college end up developing arm problems? Or are you asking why did these kids with arm problems get drafted over kids without arm problems?

They got drafted because they threw heat and had success on the mound.

But put very little time in as pitchers. I was just wondering what could have caused problems, poor mechanics, throwing too hard too soon, not developing the proper muscles?

I don't know the answer, was just curious why fairly 'new oitching arms" would have had problems, or would they have had problems anyway?

They did not go to the same school, and one came from HS.

I don't think their is such a thing as a "fresh" arm that hasn't been pitching on a regular basis. Pitching is much more stressful on the arm and the body needs time to adjust. I would think two or three years at least to adjust before they could be used more than a few innings here or there. JMO

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Originally posted by Tiger Paw Mom:
They got drafted because they threw heat and had success on the mound.

But put very little time in as pitchers. I was just wondering what could have caused problems, poor mechanics, throwing too hard too soon, not developing the proper muscles?

I don't know the answer, was just curious why fairly 'new oitching arms" would have had problems, or would they have had problems anyway?

They did not go to the same school, and one came from HS.

Gotcha'. Can only speculate but the obvious possibilities are poor mechanics, improper conditioning, poor technique (for breaking pitches), overuse and, of course, a combination of all of the above.

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Originally posted by Tiger Paw Mom:
4 players that I know of, all converted to pitchers in college, one in HS, all drafted having or have had significant arm problems, shoulder surgery or TJS. All with significant velocity over 90 before they were drafted.

Why? Was having the "fresh arm" not a good thing?

A couple of things come to mind.

1. It could be that they were taught improper mechanics. Wouldn't surprise me.

2. It could be that they were not taught proper mechanics. I have experienced this myself with a converted college pitcher. You can get away with poor or problematic mechanics while playing IF or OF due to the fewer throws you make.

3. They could have been overused after converting over.

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Originally posted by Tiger Paw Mom:
But put very little time in as pitchers. I was just wondering what could have caused problems, poor mechanics, throwing too hard too soon, not developing the proper muscles?

If you're going to pitch, you have to condition your arm like a pitcher does. That's the problem with part-time pitchers. They may condition their arms like position players than like pitchers.

TPM,
According to Dr. Andrews it is important to throw from an early age because you have to build up the tendons and ligaments to handle the loads. If these players didn't throw hard often enough when they were young and then significantly increased the workload by moving to the mound and throwing at max velocity more often then it is possible that their ligaments and/or tendons weren't strong enough to handle the load. It also could just be genetics. The risk goes up as velocity increases.

There's no magic answer. It is important to throw enough to build up the tendons and ligaments. It is important to not throw so much that the arm is over used. Everybody is different so the right amount of throwing is different for everyone. Generally we tend to err on the side of less throwing. In Japan they tend to err on the side of more throwing and let the injured fall by the wayside.

Fresh arms are good but just like resting the arm for a month or two one has to be careful afterwards. After a rest it is important to return to throwing gradually. With a fresh arm it is important to build up the arm gradually, but over a much longer time than returning to throwing after a month or so off.

I was quite worried about my son's UCL when he came back to throwing at 10mph faster than when he was first injured. He went back to the doctor a few weeks ago and we all figured it was the UCL. When the MRI came back the UCL was fine and he had a stress reaction in the elbow just like before. Hopefully that means he's got a fresh arm from the standpoint of tendons and ligaments and as he gets a bit older and stops growing the bones will remodel sufficiently to handle the stresses of pitching.