Originally posted by HaiGuise:Originally posted by Ninerjohn:
For every Mark Prior there are many MORE guys who have come back better than ever from TJ surgery. Mariano Rivera, John Smoltz, Liriano, Ryan Dempster, Tim Hudson, Billy Wagner, Chris Carpenter, Josh Johnson, Rafael Soriano... all elite pitchers at some point after their surgery and at least 2 Hall of Famers.
There are just WAY more examples of guys who came back strong compared to the one big name (Prior) who didnt.
But Mark Prior never had Tommy John surgery. His shoulder was what gave him problems throughout his career. One of the big reasons why people compare Strasburg to Prior is because they both had the "inverted W" mechanics, creating more load on the shoulder.
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For Strasburg to have any chance of pitching more than 5 years he's got to change his arm action and get rid of the Inverted W. He also needs to ditch the slider because that is an absolute killer of the elbows. Changing his arm action may knock 5 or so MPH off of his velocity, but that's what it's going to take to reduce the load on his arm.
http://www.chrisoleary.com/projects/baseball/pitching/professionalpitcheranalyses/StephenStrasburg.html
Obviously, it's big news that someone as young and dynamic as Strasburg is having TJ surgery at such an early stage of his career, but I don't think the shoulder strain he suffered earlier this season should be taken lightly. My point is, even if Strasburg's elbow comes back better than ever, something's got to be done about the shoulder issue.
What will he be like in 2 years. That is what it will take for him to get back to the bigs with confidence.