What’s with all the UCL injuries?

With the recent announcement that Matt Harvey, franchise gem of the New York Mets, will have to be shut down for the rest of the season due to a partial tear of the UCL (Ulnar Collateral Ligament), it got me wondering why this seems to be happening with such regularity. Over the last few seasons Stephen Strasburg of the Nats, Jonny Venters of the Braves, Dylan Bundy (the uber-prospect of the Orioles), and now Harvey have all either needed the surgery, or may need it.

But what could possibly be causing all these talented young pitchers to miss significant time due to needing “Tommy John” surgery? Contrary to popular belief, not all pitchers come back better than they were from this surgery; it actually has a success rate between 85-92 percent, depending on which account you read. Now, back in 1974, when the surgery was first performed on it’s namesake, Tommy John was told his chances of throwing again were 1 in 100 – which, for those of you scoring at home, is 0.01 or 1%.

So why could it be happening so frequently now? You could throw out many reasons, but let’s start with some basics:

Pitching is not a natural act– True, throwing a baseball over-handed is not natural act, and throwing off of a mound makes it even worse. But if that was causing this then everyone would need to have surgery.

Pitchers today are coddled– That may or may not be true. It is true that pitch counts have only been in vogue since the 80’s. And innings counts are closely monitored in young pitchers, a fact we were beaten over the head about last year with Strasburg and the Nationals and that whole soap opera. But, being that the surgery has only been performed since 1974, I’m quite sure that other pitchers have torn that ligament, and were just chalked up to having “blew their arm out” and released and never heard from again.

Mechanics– One of my favorite subjects. I do believe that bad mechanics lead to a lot of problems when it comes to pitching, control and consistency being two of them. Arm problems can be one of those problems, but I do not believe that you can make it to the Major Leagues with bad mechanics. And if you’ve ever been to spring training you would be amazed by how many coaches are watching these guys throw. So, by the time guys get to the majors, mechanical flaws have hopefully been straightened out.

Velocity– If you are looking for a common denominator among all the guys I mentioned above, this is it. All of these guys can, and have, touched or been around 100 MPH. Maybe we have finally discovered the limit of the human body when it comes to throwing a baseball. Well, if that is the case, Gerritt Cole, Aroldis Chapman, Justin Verlander, and…gulp…Kevin Gausman better watch out, as a trip to the doctor may be in their respective futures.

Is it any of these reasons alone? Who knows?

Is it a combination of these reasons? Possibly.

Every time I think I may be on to something I always have the same thought….Nolan Ryan and “Goose” Gossage threw as hard, or harder, than anyone ever has and neither of them needed to have a ligament replaced. Maybe Dr. Frank Jobe, the originator of the procedure, was right, when he said, “If it’s going to go, it’s going to go.”

Thank you Dr. Jobe…but you’re really not helping.