Earlier today St. Charles Sports Medicine hosted their second annual “Injuries in Baseball” Symposium at Ward Melville HS. The event was a must-attend for all coaches, parents and athletes as Dr. Luga Podesta, former team doctor of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Los Angeles Dodgers, went into great detail on his research of how to prevent injuries in young pitchers.
Also on the panel was former MLB catcher Tom Gregorio, current Philadelphia Phillies International Director of Scouting Sal Agostinelli, legendary Shoreham-Wading River Head Coach Sal Mignano. Dr. Gregory Mallo, Dr. Danielle DeGiogrio and Dr. Ray Mattfield also contributed their findings and opinions. They combined their decades of experience and provided insight that is critical for all members of the baseball community regardless of age.
Here are some facts and findings that I found most interesting…
Dr. Luga Podesta said:
- Most MLB pitchers sustained irreversible damage during their younger years due to overuse.
- Long-tossing does not build arm strength and he believes it actually HURTS arm strength by causing fatigue to the rotator cuff.
- Weighted ball programs should not be done by youth athletes until they are skeletally mature.
- 83% of MLB pitchers that undergo Tommy John surgery return to game-action.
- The repaired ligament will last between 8-10 years after Tommy John surgery.
- 37% of MLB pitchers undergo a revision surgery after their initial Tommy John.
- 15-20 pitchers per year underwent TJ between 2012-’15.
- Youth pitchers that throw greater than 100 innings in a season or pitch competitively more than eight months are 36x more likely to undergo elbow or shoulder surgery.
- Youth pitchers that play catcher or shortstop in addition to pitching are 2.7x more likely undergo elbow or shoulder surgery.
- Youth pitchers are at increased risk of elbow/shoulder injury when pitching consecutive days or while pitching with an injury to another part of the body
- Youth pitchers that throw sliders are 80% more likely to undergo elbow/shoulder surgery.
- He tells youth pitchers to protect themselves from teammates, coaches or parents forcing them to pitch when they are experiencing any pain.
- Strains in forearm generally are a precursor to an elbow surgery.
- If a pitcher complains of “difficulty warming up”, “numbness in pinky or ring finger” or “loss of ability to hit targer” it is a warning sign of an elbow injury.
- Platelet Rich Plasma injection is a viable substitution to Tommy John.
- Only 42% of athletes that choose rest and rehab over surgery avoid surgery.
- Submariners have the same stress on their ligaments as traditional over-the-top pitchers but simply angle their trunks to create the release point. Side armers endure more stress.
- Rest is equally as important as strength building.
Sal Agostinelli said:
- The best arm strengths come from Florida, Texas and California.
- He signs 100 players per year and he understands several of those will wind up with arm injuries.
- He attends only the top showcases in the country.
- Latin American born players generally play with more passion than American-born players which gives them an advantage to get signed.
- Players should decide which colleges they want to attend and they should then attend their summer or fall clinics.
- There have not been any New York-born position players in the big leagues recently because they are not exposed to elite fastballs enough.
- If you are good enough, scouts will find you regardless of where you are from.
- Do not attend a college that you aren’t talented to play at.
Sal Mignano said:
- It is impossible to monitor your athletes when they play in summer leagues. Many of his elite players went on to play on multiple travel teams–even during the high school season–which potentially exposed them to injuries.
- Brian Morrell comes from a great family and has a great work ethic so he is not worried that he is overworking himself and he believed the same about Keith Osik when he had him.
- He understands showcases are moneymakers but he would prefer athletes not attend so many.
- Parents should just be parents and not push their kids so much.
Tom Gregorio said:
- He loves the newly-enforced pitch counts at the high school level.
- He didn’t think about getting drafted until his junior year of college.
- He is glad that he didn’t get drafted that year because he doesn’t think he was ready.
- As a bullpen catcher it is your job to tell the manager if you noticed a pitcher looks fatigued.
- Parents should be there to support their kids and not live through them.
It was a very informative experience and all coaches, players and parents that attended will benefit from their knowledge.
