This week, another two rather big names were added to the list, and had Tommy John.

Matt Moore (drafted by Tampa Bay in the 8th round of the 2007 amateur draft) left mid game on Monday against the Royals with elbow soreness, and test reveal that he has a tear in his UCL. And will likely undergo Tommy John in the near future.

Jameson Taillon, drafted 2nd overall in 2010, announced that he will go under Tommy John surgery. Taillon is currently ranked 20th among current MLB prospects. The number of players that have already had Tommy John and are going to have it in the near future is growing continuously.

Jarrod Parker was 19 years old when he was drafted 9th overall in the 2007 MLB Draft to the Arizona Diamondbacks. He has a 3.68 ERA over his 3 year career and has 275 career strike outs. 

This Friday, March 31st, it was announced that Oakland Athletics pitcher Jarrod Parker went under Tommy John surgery for the second time since 2009. Parker is one of only 37 MLB pitchers to have the surgery performed on them twice. Seven of the 37 to undergo their second surgery had it done after or on June 2012, none have returned to play since.

Welcome back everybody. This past Thursday, the creator and master of UCL reconstruction  surgery, later dubbed Tommy John surgery, past away on March 6, in Santa Monica, California. Jobe's ground breaking discovery of Tommy John surgery is now the most popular surgery in baseball. 

Jobe's work  has changed the face of the MLB, and the game of baseball itself. 

Welcome back. This week I've stayed on the topic of young pitchers and their relation to Tommy John. Dr. Christopher Ahmad says that he has been noticing the "disturbing trend" of young pitchers purposely blowing their arms out so the can try their luck with Tommy John. Even coaches are becoming more reckless with pitchers at practice because they are believing that anything can be easily fixed with surgery. According to FoxNews.com, 30% of coaches say that throwing too much cannot lead to surgery.

Due to these alarming patterns. Ahmad said that it important that the dangers of overthrowing should not be overlooked by students and coaches. It is recommended that pitchers take a 2-3 month break in between seasons to avoid rupture in the tissue.

"If you are a developing athlete at 16, you are going to be a better athlete at 19", Ahmad said, "If you have Tommy John surgery during that development,  you're going to develop as a pitcher, but the surgery itself isn't going to allow you to throw at higher velocities." 

This week I've been looking at how high school and college pitchers use Tommy John to increase velocity in there pitches. Many young pitchers train to be more muscular to increase their pitch speed. Many pitchers are looking for an extra boost to their pitch speed, and test their luck with the 85% success rate of UCL reconstruction, or Tommy John surgery. 

According to some doctors, there are some misconceptions surrounding Tommy John. Cautioning that it isn't always the miracle that young pitchers think it is.

Doctor Christopher Ahmad, head physician for the New York Yankees, "It's not much different from thinking performance enhancing drugs can make you throw harder." More to come next week.

I'm back! This week I've learned how successful pitchers who've had Tommy John sugery have been. Former Tommy John patient Kerry Wood said, "I hit my top speed (in velocity) after the surgery. I'm throwing harder, consistently." He said that in 2003, at age 26, also being his first year as a National League All-Star for the Chicago Cubs. He is one of many successful patients.

Ten years ago, if a pitcher would have gone to a doctor, the doctor would almost always recommend rest for a partial ligament tear. But with today's success rate and technology, numbers favor going with surgery. 

Not only is the surgery a better option for long term success, but with the resting option there is only about a "50-50" chance that they will fully recover. Although Tommy John doesn't have a 100% success rate, the odds of a healthy and successful return clearly favor surgery.

These are just a few of many ways you can notice a pitcher is hurting. Thanks for visiting my blog, and see you next week!

This week I've been looking into how coaches and other spectators can notice when an arm injury is happening. There are a few things to look out for when you think an arm injury could be present.

1.) When a pitcher is trying to take off stress in his arm by trying to generate more power through his body. This usually cause his arm to drag and to loose his rhythm. 

2.) If the pitcher is shortening his arm deceleration or follow through. He will lose his normal arm acceleration. 

3.) The pitcher is taking a longer time in between pitches (walking around the mound).

These are a few of the possible things that could lead to arm injury:

1) Lifting your elbow above your throwing shoulder. This along with poor upper and lower body timing can cause the the arm to have to quickly transition or snap their arm into a position to begin arm acceleration. Doing this repetitively causes stress on throwing arm.

2) Throwing too much. The risk of elbow pain is 3.5 times greater if you throw 600 or more pitches in a single season. 

3) Poor leg and/or arm strength. With poor strength in these areas, you have to rely more on your arm itself for velocity.  

Hi again! This week I've been looking into the most common things that cause, not only Tommy John, but other common arm injuries in pitchers. There are more things than I expected that can affect serious arm injuries and surgeries. 

I'm back! I hope you all had a good week!

This week, I've been researching the rehab after Tommy John. When Tommy John had his surgery done in 1976, it took him 18 months to recover. Today, it takes about 10-12 months to be fully recovered. The video I posted on the right is one pitcher's first day throwing since the surgery.

These are the steps in rehab:

Days 1-7 His arm will be put into a hard brace at a 90 degree angle. He will be able to do light grip exercises.

Week 2 The elbow extension will gradually increase. The athlete will be able to use it for every day activities, like eating.

Weeks 3-8 He will be able to start doing light dumbbell exercises and will work on his range of motion.

Week 10 Start to be able to simulate throwing motion.

Week 12-14  The pitcher will start doing your throwing motion with a 1 pound medicine ball.

Week 16 The pitcher will begin a throwing program.

Month 6 The pitcher will be able to start throwing off a mound at 50%. He will gradually increase in velocity.

Month 7 He will begin throwing breaking balls on flat ground.

Months 8-10 Begin practicing in game conditions.

Months 10-12 He can return to competition.

List of the top 10 pitchers who've undergone Tommy John surgery (according to Sports Illustrated).

1.) Tommy John
2.)Kerry Wood
3.)John Smoltz
4.)Josh Johnson
5.)Chris Carpenter
6.)Tim Hudson
7.)Billy Wagner
8.)Joe Nathan
9.)Stephen Strasburg
10.)Adam Wainwright

Hi again! Well, this week I've learned more about the surgery itself than ways and tips to prevent it. In 1974, when Tommy John was the first person to undergo this surgery, surgeon Frank Jobe gave him a 1 in 100 chance that it would work. Although Tommy John didn't return until 1976, he was able to pitch to the age of 46, 12 years following the surgery, with 288 wins, the 7th most wins in history among left handed pitchers. But with today's technology, athletes have about an 83% chance of success.  Amazingly, there are pitchers in the MLB who don't even HAVE a UCL (Ulnar Collateral Ligament), which is pictured, one of them being the 2012 National League Cy Young Award winner, R.A. Dickey. The video below is a story about a young and talented pitcher who had Tommy John.