Nature Versus Nurture
What should we make of Francisco Liriano’s situation? The Twins’ beloved rookie righty was on the DL for about a month before attempting a comeback Wednesday. As you know, he left the game after 28 pitches after hearing something pop in his elbow.
Rotowire reports Liriano has a “mild” tear of his ulnar collateral ligament. Twins GM Terry Ryan said, “The MRI came back exactly the same as the previous one. He has a ligament strain, but there is no structural damage.”
Some might think that a tear, however “mild,” would constitute “structural damage.” I’m surprised that some of the medical experts in our media haven’t stepped up to offer their diagnoses.
[By the way, can you imagine the Vortex of Armageddon™ that would result if a promising young pitcher managed by…oh, I don’t know…this guy went on the DL for a month only leave his first start after 28 pitches and be found with a “mild” tear in his ulnar collateral ligament?]
At any rate…by all accounts, Liriano has been handled carefully throughout his minor league career, and the Twins don’t appear to have overworked him this year. Could this mean that the old-timers who say that those pitchers shouldn’t be molly-coddled (and the Pitch Count Police worried about games becoming too boring) are right? If counting pitches and monitoring workloads can’t prevent injuries, why bother?
My opinion (and, no, I’m no doctor): some guys are just going to get hurt, no matter how much the teams try to protect them. Whether it’s bad mechanics, poor conditioning, brittle bones, week ligaments, whatever, those guys will break down.
However, pitch counts are a tool that teams can use to put off the trip to the DL as long as possible. Just as conditioning programs will keep the pitchers in shape, and delivery adjustments will keep their mechanics in line, limiting pitches will reduce the stress on muscles, ligaments, nerves, and everything else in the pitchers’ arms and shoulders.
Think of it as preventative maintenance. And it’s worth the effort, even if some people hate watching batters take all those pitches…
Rotowire reports Liriano has a “mild” tear of his ulnar collateral ligament. Twins GM Terry Ryan said, “The MRI came back exactly the same as the previous one. He has a ligament strain, but there is no structural damage.”
Some might think that a tear, however “mild,” would constitute “structural damage.” I’m surprised that some of the medical experts in our media haven’t stepped up to offer their diagnoses.
[By the way, can you imagine the Vortex of Armageddon™ that would result if a promising young pitcher managed by…oh, I don’t know…this guy went on the DL for a month only leave his first start after 28 pitches and be found with a “mild” tear in his ulnar collateral ligament?]
At any rate…by all accounts, Liriano has been handled carefully throughout his minor league career, and the Twins don’t appear to have overworked him this year. Could this mean that the old-timers who say that those pitchers shouldn’t be molly-coddled (and the Pitch Count Police worried about games becoming too boring) are right? If counting pitches and monitoring workloads can’t prevent injuries, why bother?
My opinion (and, no, I’m no doctor): some guys are just going to get hurt, no matter how much the teams try to protect them. Whether it’s bad mechanics, poor conditioning, brittle bones, week ligaments, whatever, those guys will break down.
However, pitch counts are a tool that teams can use to put off the trip to the DL as long as possible. Just as conditioning programs will keep the pitchers in shape, and delivery adjustments will keep their mechanics in line, limiting pitches will reduce the stress on muscles, ligaments, nerves, and everything else in the pitchers’ arms and shoulders.
Think of it as preventative maintenance. And it’s worth the effort, even if some people hate watching batters take all those pitches…
posted by Bob at
9:18 PM
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