Strasburg May Need Tommy John Surgery

[PDXChris]

WASHINGTON -- Stephen Strasburg has a torn elbow ligament and will likely have Tommy John surgery, bringing the pitcher's promising rookie season to an abrupt end.

Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said Friday an MRI on the right elbow revealed a "significant tear." Strasburg will travel to the West Coast for a second opinion, but Rizzo anticipates the 22-year-old right-hander will need the operation that requires 12 to 18 months of rehabilitation.

"As you can imagine, he was initially upset," Rizzo said, "but he has really turned himself from being upset to being focused on his rehabilitation. He's determined to get the surgery done and begin the process of rehabilitation."

Strasburg was pulled from Saturday's game at Philadelphia when he grimaced while grabbing and shaking his wrist after throwing a changeup to Domonic Brown.

The Nationals initially called the injury a strained flexor tendon in the forearm, but an MRI taken Sunday raised enough questions for the Nationals to order a more extensive MRI in which dye is injected into the arm.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5502866

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WOW

 

[Beaver]

Mark Prior II

 

[overseascardfan]

Mark Prior II

Not even, at least Prior pitched for 5 years, Strasburg couldn't make it past 6 starts. The good news is he is only 22 so he could bounce back, Tommy John reportedly actually gives pitchers increased velocity after recovery but having this serious an injury this early in his career does not bode well.

The only real similarity between the 2 is that their scouting reports indicated that their mechanics and arm action were flawless so injury would not be a problem, well whomever thought up that theory did not know what he was talking about. I read somewhere that Jarrod Parker was suppose to have an effortless delivery too but he had to have TJ surgery, there is no such thing as a "can't miss" pitching prospect, the arm and shoulder were not built for pitching motion. Makes true legends such as Walter Johnson, Warren Spahn, Randy Johnson and other power pitchers look even more legendary because they pitched for so long without missing significant time to arm injuries. What did they do so differently back in the 20's-60's? Pitchers were pitching more innnings and weren't on pitch counts back then, pretty miraculous that those guys lasted so long.

 

[azsportsfan01]

Tommy John surgery isn't that bad thanks to medical advancements. Hell Jarrod Parker had the surgery last October and he is already throwing simulated games and should be ready to play in the fall league. Yes it sucks that he will be done for a full year but as long as you have the work ethic then you can come back to full strength.

 

[desertrat218]

Tough break for Straburg and Nationals fans.

 

[Southpaw]

The Nationals just can't help themselves. Next up, Bryce Harper. They were going no where, but needed the ticket sales.

 

[82CardsGrad]

The Nationals just can't help themselves. Next up, Bryce Harper. They were going no where, but needed the ticket sales.

Huh? Did they do something wrong in drafting Straburg and Harper??

 

[Southpaw]

Huh? Did they do something wrong in drafting Straburg and Harper??

Nothing wrong with the drafting. Both seemed like great picks. They rushed Strasburg. Went from a college arm to majors. They could have shut him down earlier in the minors. Hopefully they don't rush Harper.

 

[82CardsGrad]

Nothing wrong with the drafting. Both seemed like great picks. They rushed Strasburg. Went from a college arm to majors. They could have shut him down earlier in the minors. Hopefully they don't rush Harper.

Well, hindsight is certainly 20/20 isn't it? Everything about Strasburg was saying that he was ready for the majors... 99.9% of the other teams would've done the same thing. Can't fault the Nats one bit... just bad luck, period...

 

[hafey]

When bad things happen, people look for someone to blame. However I don't think the Nationals rushed him and I don't think they're to blame. Throwing a baseball is a completely unnatural anatomical motion for a human being, especially with the velocity of a Steven Strasburg. That's why pitchers get injured and there isn't much you can do about it whether you baby them or not.