We are two weeks away from opening day and several pitchers have gone down with elbow injuries, both needing Tommy John. Two of those pitchers are Ryan Madson of the Cincinnati Reds and Joakim Soria of the Kansas City Royals. Madson who just signed with the Reds this offseason is hoping for a speedy recovery back to the bigs to make an impact in Cincy. For Joakim Soria, it’s a totally different story. This is his second go around with Tommy John Surgery (2003).
Ryan Madson: 6’6, 200 pound right-hander with good velocity on his fastball will be having season ending Tommy John surgery soon. He was a major piece as part of the Phillies success last season. He saved 32 games in 34 chances and was the backbone of that outstanding bullpen. Madson at 31 years old will have to miss a whole season because of this injury. This is bad news for Madson, who pitched one of his best seasons in the majors last year. Coming off Tommy John surgery could make or break his career in my opinion.
Madson’s injury is rare to say the least. He tore the ulnar collateral ligament completely off the bone. Doctors have reported that you will not feel such an injury. Your muscle will just become weak and you won’t be able to do anything with that arm. This is a sad story and let’s hope for a speedy recovery for Madson so he can get back on the mound and do what he does best: pitch. With this being his first Tommy John surgery, he should be back in the majors in about a year and a half, stronger than ever looking to close games in Cincinnati (if he returns to the team).
Since coming to the majors in ’07 he has racked up 160 saves in just 5 seasons with Kansas City. The Royals had to see something like this was going to happen when at the end of last year, he lost a lot of velocity off his fastball and gave up 27 earned runs in just 60 appearances. Those 27 earned runs gave him his worst ERA of his career at 4.03. The Royals had a chance to trade him but decided to stick with Soria for another season. This could have been because the Royals knew he was injured and that they could get nothing for him. Or perhaps the Royals didn’t know and this is just now coming to their attention. Nonetheless, Kansas City has lost its closer for the 2012 season.
Just judging by previous players that had Tommy John surgery twice, it looks like Soria’s career is near an end. He could make a tremendous comeback and surprise us all, but in reality that is probably not going to happen.
A big prospect in the Astros organization has also recently gone down and will need Tommy John surgery. He is the number two prospect in their organization and will be out the entire 2012 season. He was one of the only upside players as part of this Astros team, who will most likely lose 100 games this season. His name is Sergio Escalona. He is a big lefty with tons of upside as well, and will need to rehab hard to make a comeback. He pitched in 49 games last season for the Astros and marked a 2.93 ERA, which isn’t too bad considering the lack of offensive support he had. It is hard to tell how Escalona will react to being out a full season and requiring surgery. Let’s all hope he makes a strong recovery and makes it back to the big leagues.
History of Tommy John Surgery
The history of Tommy John surgery goes back to 1974. Since that time over 250 players, most of them pitchers have had the surgery. Some big names that have had it include: Kerry Wood, John Smoltz, Billy Wagner and Tim Hudson. Notice that all of these players were relievers at some point in their careers. As I have researched the most recent players to have Tommy John surgery, I noticed that many of them have been relievers at some point in their careers.This is not a good sign for baseball having two major players go down with Tommy John surgery before the season has even started. Back in 2003 Carpenter, A.J. Burnett, and Joakim Soria all went down with Tommy John, and I am scared for baseball that it is going to get worse this season. It seems like many of the power pitchers that rely on blowing fastballs by hitters are the ones that are having Tommy John. I wouldn’t go as far as saying that this year is a huge jump in this type of injury thus far… but it could be.
With many young players now coming up through the minors, coaches and organizations are usually putting pitch counts on their pitchers, especially the youngsters. This is a good way to save a pitcher’s arm; but does it save it from getting injured and even worse having to get Tommy John? No, I don’t believe it does and neither do the experts. According to some doctors, weight lifting and flexing the arm with a weight in your hand can help prevent Tommy John, but are not 100 percent of the time. Tommy John surgery just happens in most cases to an athlete that makes a repetitive motion many times a day for about 300 days a year. The wear and tear does catch up with pitchers…eventually.
Ryan Ritchey (Intern Candidate: MLB reports)
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