Does anyone know if there are any studies in relation to athletes from specific colleges and Tommy John surgery? I assume it would be difficult to document due to so many variables before they arrive on campus, but curious if students coming into specific arm care programs are having more injuries than others. Or if there is a place you can see injury info for a college in any given season.
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I'm not sure where this link originated, maybe the fangraphs site. It probably is the 80% solution since there is no mandate to track the information that I'm aware of in college. This is the only database I've come across.
Thank you. Interesting to look at.
Not school specific...But Dr James Andrews, ASMI Pensicola Fl & Birmingham Ala, has been studying TJ patients for over a decade.
BASEBALLHS - was wondering what you might be looking for in such a study. There is probably a pretty large fluctuation in many programs while a few might stick out on either end (longer term staffs with stable pitching programs). If you are concerned about an individual program, I suspect you might need to focus on the underlying pitching program and that program's underlying statistics. You might need to see where the PC has been in the past and how long has he been at his current spot.
I have heard both sides of the issue, but one might also want to take into consideration the recruiting pool and whether baseball has historically been a full year option (warm states like CA and FL) or a cold climate where the pitchers may not have been throwing 365 days/year. I know this is changing with increased specialization and cold-climate facilities, but if you are looking back 10 years or so this may have some impact on the TJS rates.
The TJS list is good information, but I wouldn't automatically indict a school that has multiple guys on the list. There are studies that show a correlation between velo and injury. IMO, schools who land high school kids who are throwing mid-90s are more likely to get a kid with a potential problem. Having said that, I wouldn't dismiss the information either. I would take a closer look at the details. The numbers for each school are small enough that you could investigate each pitcher. Look at his college workload. Look at the number of PG Events he attended before college. Also, google names for previous injury information.
I agree. So many variables but it is interesting. The chart shows what state they came from and what college. I was just reading an article that discussed a program with several pitchers out for TJ surgery and it made me wonder if there were statistics. I would assume top programs with high velocity arms ha e more issues and at quick glance that seems true. I wold guess the year round baseball Factors into it too.
Rather than just correlating injury to program, it would probably be beneficial to track them by pitching coach as well.
Assistant coaches move around a lot, and it would be interesting to see if patterns follow them. This wouldn't just show "bad" coaches - but could also identify those who have a track record of keeping pitchers healthy.
Another interesting fact from that list: there is a set of brothers from the same school who had surgeries a couple months apart. Perhaps genetics plays a role in a predisposition to this injury? I know nothing about pitching injuries so I apologize if I'm pointing out the obvious.
My curiosity led me to a medical study (perhaps the one Midatlantic Dad referred to) which correlates the velocity and injury. It concluded:
"There is a significant difference in preinjury fastball velocity between MLB pitchers with tears and matched controls without UCL injury. Pitchers with injuries are throwing harder and getting injured earlier in their MLB careers."
Not to mention that, I'm sure, some programs are quicker to recommend their pitchers see a surgeon and quicker to push the TJ option than others and probably shouldn't be penalized in the court of public opinion for it.
our local high school had 12 Tjs over a 2 yr period, when I heard that I was definitely disturbed. Parents told me the coach was a complete idiot when I came to pitching and mechanics but they felt like there was nothing they could do. so when my son wanted to go the rival high school 5 miles away I made it happen. The other school's coach definitely was worried and went and hired a dedicated pitching coach this year.
