Child Abuse in High School Baseball

[nymr83]

kid throws 14 innings and 194 pitches... the guy who relieved him threw 3 more innings... and then pitched 7 in the 2nd game of the doubleheader that day. absurd.


http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/eye-on-baseball/24563133/high-schooler-throws-194-pitches-in-14-inning-start

[Frayed Knot]

Saw Dr James Andrews on the air last week saying how he thought that pitchers throwing too hard while too young --aka: trying to light up the radar gun in order to secure college scholarships and/or higher draft pick status-- was the major cause of the rise of TJ surgeries. For years we all heard about the danger of curve balls and such but, while certainly not ruling those out, the tendons & ligaments that hold your arms together are still developing at that age.
He didn't specifically mention pitching too long as well but I think that's pretty much implied, not just the too-many-in-one-day/week scenario but also the full year skeds that have youngsters pitching 12 months/year on HS teams, travel teams, showcases, etc.

[Edgy MD]

One thing worth considering is that most everybody does not have a major league career to think about. Some will pitch in college, few will will be drafted, fewer still will make the big leagues, and a gilded and blessed few among those have a chance to be the next Nolan Ryan.*

So we're talking about protecting their careers, but pitching in the high school playoffs may have been the pinnacle of this kid's career.

*And who here would be shocked if you heard that Nolan Ryan had a 194-pitch day (or three) in high school?

[Frayed Knot]

Sure, but it's the trying to get there (scholarship, draft, pros) that causes many of the problems (gotta throw harder, faster, longer) both in the young MLers who are only a few years removed from that age group (Harvey, Fernandez) who may have done much of the damage during that time only to have it show up later on, and in the spike in TJ surgery on teenagers who either want it to keep the dreams of future baseball alive or just so as to have their elbows not hurt for the rest of their lives.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO! What's he going to do now?"

-The high school kid's penis

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: "NOOOOOOOOOOOO! What's he going to do now?" -The high school kid's penis

dying