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I'm guessing it was caused by pitching. Some of the reports indicate it may have been there to some degree during college.

It looks like it is a partial tear so it is possible someone could try to convince him to rehab it. My guess is the Nationals will want him to go ahead and get the surgery. Several months off for his shoulder with a very gradual return to throwing and a new "UCL" which should last quite a long while. A relatively small risk that he won't come back to his former ability. I'm trying to find the downside in this for the Nationals but I can't. The downside for Strasburg of course is the difficult rehab.

The Angels took the rehab course with Ervin Santana when he had a partial tear and it seemed to work in that case but this sounds to be a pretty significant tear. The risk with the rehab approach is that the rehab takes a long time and then if it doesn't work which it often doesn't then the surgery and rehab from surgery is added on to that.
Last edited by CADad
That is certainly unfortunate for Stephen, there have been pitching coaches in the San Diego area who commented that due to the effort Strasburg puts into each pitch, his arm would not last. I guess they were right.

Rehab will be tough, some comeback rather quickly if they put a lot of work into the rehab, but others who have worked hard, have also taken awhile to fully recover.

And yes, he gets paid....
Strasburg had a MLB contract from the get go, so yes, he gets paid. MLB differs from, say, the NFL in that all contract money is guaranteed.

That being said, I think they passed break even on him already this year. He'll likely come back for 2012 full strength, maybe even get his feet wet late in 2011 a bit, and he's still under contract for some years after that. The Nats won't do as well as if he'd never gotten hurt, but they shouldn't regret the deal in any way.

Interesting that this news comes one day after Jordan Zimmermann returned to the Nationals' starting rotation, just about 13 months after his TJ. It's amazing what the success rate is for TJ these days. You even see guys like Andrew Brackman and Jesse Hahn getting big signing bonuses even when the teams knew they needed TJ at the time of signing.

Imagine a 2012 Nationals team anchored by Strasburg, J. Zimmermann, R. Zimmerman, and Bryce Harper. The NL East is not an invincible division, as this year shows. The building blocks for a contender are starting to accumulate. Too bad it won't be in 2010, but it's not a pipe dream any more.
quote:
there have been pitching coaches in the San Diego area who commented that due to the effort Strasburg puts into each pitch,


due to the effort??? Look at guys with longevity Nolan Ryan for example If this is the thory how did he last so long? Look at way back when pitchers completed 20-30 games a season.

certain guys can throw a certain way with no injury and certain guys can not.
One addition that is positive for the Nats is that I don't think this will affect the number of seasons Strasburg spends with the Nats. Although he will obviously miss next season (or at least most of it) he also won't gain any service time, so missing next season will push back the point when he hits arbitration and also the point where he hit free agency. So while it definitely sucks, it may turn out ok as it gives the Nats one more season to build (and probably one more season with Strasburg and Harper together as Harper almost certainly wouldn't be up at all next year).
quote:
Originally posted by SultanofSwat:
Strasburg needs Tommy John

ESPN article

Anyone want to weigh in on what may have caused it?


We been posting on this in the pitching forum and I personally believe its a timing issue and his arm dragging behind and placing too much duration of stress on the elbow. Like I said on that other forum, I know several kids who have elbow problems and they all pitch with that inverted w and their arm is behind as a consequence.

It certainly is unfortunate but I am sure that because it happened to him that a closer look at mechanics will come into play, at least I sure hope so. Some say it was just one pitch that damaged it- may be, but the odds are against that notion from the myriads of others with similar timing issues.
That's too bad, Strasburg is good for the game. Hopefully everything goes well and we see him back on the field 100% again. It's ironic, his mechanics have been discussed often on this board the past few months and now he's most likely going to go the TJ route.

Fans enjoy watching Power Hitters and Power Pitchers, it's always been that way. The Nats will miss the additional revenue that Strasburg brought in when he toed the rubber. I feel that other clubs will be affected somewhat too. If I'm not mistaken, the games that Strasburg pitched on the road, attendance increased 20-25% at that ballpark? As 3FG said, that's additional concession income, etc...
quote:
I know several kids who have elbow problems and they all pitch with that inverted w and their arm is behind as a consequence.
I know and know of kids who have hurt their arms for a variety of reasons. We're talking professional here. Do professional pitchers who do not use the inverted W form hurt their arms?
Last edited by RJM
quote:
Originally posted by Emanski's Heroes:
One addition that is positive for the Nats is that I don't think this will affect the number of seasons Strasburg spends with the Nats. Although he will obviously miss next season (or at least most of it) he also won't gain any service time, so missing next season will push back the point when he hits arbitration and also the point where he hit free agency. So while it definitely sucks, it may turn out ok as it gives the Nats one more season to build (and probably one more season with Strasburg and Harper together as Harper almost certainly wouldn't be up at all next year).


After further reading, it appears Strasburg will accumulate service time next year, which pretty much makes my previous post pointless.
quote:
Originally posted by Will:
..... Look at guys with longevity Nolan Ryan for example If this is the thory how did he last so long? Look at way back when pitchers completed 20-30 games a season.

certain guys can throw a certain way with no injury and certain guys can not.


Lest we forget when Noly missed 1967 season due to a severe arm injury. In those days, surgery to repair either shoulder or elbow was career ending! So he rehabbed on the farm, lifting feed and roping Texas cattle all day! The rest in history.

And as Casey would say, and you can look that up!
MLB.com Strasburg undergoes successful surgery

09/03/10 7:29 PM ET

PITTSBURGH -- Nationals rookie sensation Stephen Strasburg underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery on Friday.

"He had his surgery," Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said. "It was performed by Dr. Lew Yocum and Dr. Wiemi Douoguih. I got a call from both and they said it was successful surgery, he came through it with flying colors. It went smooth and uneventful. He will spend the night in the hospital tonight and go back home to San Diego on Saturday and begin his rehab."

In 12 games for the Nats, the heralded right-hander was 5-3 with a 2.91 ERA and 92 strikeouts.

Strasburg, the first overall pick in the 2009 First-Year Player Draft, is expected to be out between 12 and 18 months.

The Nats are hopeful that he can begin light throwing in four months, but they understand it likely will be a long road for him to return to the form that made him the talk of baseball earlier in the season.

"The early stages of his rehab will be at the Scripps clinic in San Diego, a front-line physical therapy place," Rizzo explained. "He'll be under the watchful eye of our people and of course the Scott Boras Group is based in Southern California, so he'll have plenty of attention and only the best."

Rizzo indicated that Strasburg eventually would go to Viera, Fla., where the club trains in the spring, for all of his baseball-related activities.

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