ptatc

QUOTE (raBBit @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 07:21 PM) I wouldn't have picked Sale or Abreu either. Why didn't everyone pick Trout? Maybe McCutchen or Kershaw but even then I couldn't take a pitcher. But Swihart, Bryant, Bumgarner? C'mon. It has to be a pitcher. Pitching wins, especially in the post season. you can't win in the post season without top pitching.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 02:37 PM) There are 29 other teams that would line up to get Abreu or Sale, so I really, really don't understand this. The grass is always greener on the other side. People will usually vote for the prospect "because of what he could be" unless it's against a HOF type player.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 02:50 PM) It is weird how it has changed. When I was in HS, I was constantly pressured by coaches to play on the football team, they even had some of my friends who played bother me to play. I played basketball and baseball and the only reason I kept saying no was becasue I was worried about my knees, not my head. These days, it would be the opposite. It is weird how it changes over time. However, at least some of it is because knee injuries are less common due to rule changes. So some of it is good, I guess.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 02:12 PM) The research is pretty limited though isnt it, mostly because a lot of the older guys who probably suffered from CTE didnt have the funds or desire to get checked out. Either way, why increase the odds of there being any sort of head or spinal injury to your young child by putting them on a team with some wanna be NFL coach making them do Oklahoma drills before their bodies are mature? It's just stupid. I watch the show "Friday Night Tykes" and its sickening. Already on a pool of 5 or so teams they follow there have been at least 2 SERIOUS head injuries. This is the choice as a parent. How restrictive do you want to be in making your child's choices? There isn't conclusive evidence that would point to one or another. I personally let my son play football, but as you said, I've watched practice closely for safety. The other point that people are making is that the older football players that show CTE also used PEDs. We've seen players like Lyle Alzado have brain tumors somewhat linked to PEDs. So how much is concussions and how much is PED use in these players.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 02:06 PM) Did you watch the PBS Frontline episode on concussions? If so what did you think? They sure offered evidence that the instance of CTE in football players was WAY higher than outside of football. There has been research since then that shows it really isn't. It's higher but not at a significant level. The difference is that there was a similar number but when you look at the % of the population who didn't play football and the % of people who didn't it evened out. There still needs to be a great deal of research. In the clinics that specialize in concussions, they see almost 50% more non-sports related concussions.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 12:23 PM) I disagree. No other sport practices repeated shots to the head and spine multiple times a week. 6 and 7 year old kids are doing oklahoma drills. Its insanely stupid. My boy is playing golf first. This is part of the problem. So far the research has shown the concussion issues are no worse in individuals that have played pro football and those who haven't. There are far more issues in people that have been in car accidents than pro football players. So, it's really difficult to determine if playing football as a child really effects much of anything. Logically, it stands to reason that they have more trauma than someone who doesn't but it's really hard to determine that in later life.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 16, 2015 -> 03:36 PM) Irrelevant. He seems like the kind of kid who's 100% motivated when the lights come on and things count, but, for now, he's mostly working on fastball control. Roughly 85% of his pitches have been of that variety. His velocity's quite good for this early in the spring, the problem is he has no command and his mechanics/delivery just haven't been repeatable. Of course you can't get away with that pitch mix....he needs more changes and sliders, but they're preserving his arm early in the spring from all appearances. I don't know about that. He still throws with an awful follow through with no trunk flexion. I think this is still part of the problem. He reminds me too much of Peavy with his motion. I'm just not a fan of it. I think it is part of the control issue.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 16, 2015 -> 03:33 PM) Seems he's still just working on fastball command. He had Tomas down 0-2 and then hit him with a slider to load the bases, trying to get the K and overthrew it. His fastball has mostly been around 95 MPH, he seems more interested in throw hard to Goldschmidt and Tomas, IMO. Only three three sliders 85-87, none of them were in the zone. MLB had one curveball at 84, but it must have been a slurve or slower version of his sharp slider which is clocking in consistently at 86-87. Yeah, he may be trying to overthrow everything this early on. Hopefully he doesn't hurt himself trying to impress everyone. He's probably trying to show everyone he belongs in Chicago.

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 16, 2015 -> 03:31 PM) Yep, looks like his command has been terrible. Good news is his velocity is in the 93-95 mph range. He may be trying to overthrow this early in ST.

It's a good thing too. Rodon looks awful according to game day. Pitches aren't even close. He's doing the Nuke Laloosh line two walks an HBP and then he gives up hits.

QUOTE (3GamesToLove @ Mar 15, 2015 -> 08:35 AM) Yes, the analytical-industrial complex is ruining the game. I think it does indirectly, though the money. It has been a recent trand away from complete games and wins as the pitching standard to quality starts, FIP, xFIP and my personal favorite SIERA. Pitchers are now getting paid by these performance criteria, rightfully so. However, these have also changed to way a pitcher pitches. They now throw more intensely fora ashorter period of time. The quality goes up but so does the intnsity of the pitchng. I've been saying all along and the podcast agreed that the intentional increased velocity more often creates the increased number of injuries. Pitchers are trying to throw harder more often to gets those numbers thus the bigger pay check. You can't blame them but it also causes issues. Pitchers used to pace themselves and throw as hard to conserve thmselves to pitch 9 inings. That doesn't happen much anymore.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 14, 2015 -> 03:48 PM) http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article....articleid=23644 Ptac will enjoy this one..... http://grantland.com/features/mlb-catcher-...ollisions-rule/ And one about home plate collisions Wow. You weren't kidding. That was excellent information. It really sums it up well. Before anyone posts about pitching again they should listen to that. Specifically about velocity. Mechanic can be a difficult topic unless you've really studied them. However, velocity should be easy to understand. Everyone should realize that any discussion of velocity at this time of the year is not only useless but detrimental. Pitchers should not be throwing at their max level now. This also exemplifies the problem with the current philosophy of pitching. Pitchers are now taught to go hard for six innings because it looks better in your analytics and you get more money as wins don't matter. Thus they throw harder more often instead of pacing themselves for longer outings. It's the same as hitters forgoing contact for power as that helps your OPS more. It really is a detriment to the pitcher's health. It's driven by the "new" way to look at pitching which in turn will make them more money. The pitchers are more effective for a shorter period of time but it also puts alot more stress on the arm. This is a must listen for every fan who wants to understand what is happening to pitching.

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ Mar 14, 2015 -> 01:49 AM) I'm not a doctor and don't play one on the Internet. With that said, I'd be surprised if we ever saw the Nate Jones of the past again. Any time a player has Tommy John, or tears an ACL, I write them off. Maybe I'm pessimistic, but I'd rather be surprised than disappointed. Basically, I expect nothing from Jones going forward. You are being unrealistically pessimistic. TJ and ACL surgeries continue to have a very high rate of returning to previous level. Anyone who has these I have a very high level of confidence that they will return. I have worked with 100's of them. More ACL than TJ but almost all of them return. However you are right with Jones but for the wrong reason, his back. If it wasn't for that injury he would have returned long ago. That problem came out of nowhere and is concerning. I don't know the specifics behind it but they did surgery almost as soon as it appeared. This is rare that a fairly long rehab wasn't attempted first. This is cause for concern.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 13, 2015 -> 02:43 PM) http://www.baseballamerica.com/majors/succ...urgery-decline/ Paulino and Gavin Floyd mentions....makes you feel Nate Jones shouldn't be counted on for anything in 2015. It has more to do with the pitcher than the surgery. They usually have the surgery because of mechanical issues. Some pitchers will not change the motion because either: they believe the problem is fixed and thus don't need to or they don't believe they will be successful without that "extra movement." More and more of these guys just think that once they have surgery they are fixed and don't want to listen. No surgery is a sure thing but if they listen it has a really good chance of being fine. Part of the problem with the article is they didn't really look at any correlation or causitive effects. It was only these players had it and look where they are. That is a poor way to say that the surgery isn't as effective. The surgical techniques have improve, so it's not the surgery that's less effective, it's the players and how well they rehab and change their habits.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Mar 11, 2015 -> 06:22 PM) Do you have any links to that bit about bone and ultrasound? My own experience from my injuries and research is that at worst it does nothing and it might hasten the healing process by speeding blood flow. Is this particular to avulsion fractures? HIIT I'm simply referring to doing a high rep light weigh upper body circuit. He should obviously be off his foot into the healing is complete. There is some research that shows ultrasound at very low doses can help fractures heal. There is a great deal of controversy as to why though. The typical ultrasound you will receive at a clinic is far too high intensity. This is the version that will inhibit fracture healing and the one that increases blood flow due to the cavitation and heating effect. Its for all fractures due to the disruption of the periosteum. It has been shown to be more effective on soft tissue such as muscle, tendon and ligaments. This is why I prefer not to use it as it is controversial at best so the time for treatment is better used elsewhere. Just look up articles on line there are many of them out there Because its been used for years with varied results. The HIIT usually refers to the high intensity interval training. Which is why I said I wouldn't do it. The high rep, light weight for the upper extremity would be fine but the trunk and hips really need to be addressed as he will be losing lower extremity endurance while waiting for it to heal.

QUOTE (LDF @ Mar 11, 2015 -> 04:56 PM) yeah that was the stupid name of it. i went to google and found the rest. but you are spot on. my question is and hockey players thru their org uses it for deep injury and bone bruising or something like that. i know they, det red wings, claimed it brought yazerman back someting like a month ahead of time. he was our something like 3 weeks doing therapy like 4x a week. now here is the disclaimer. the numbers may be off to way off. i just can't remember. this was late 80's. the other part is why don't baseball use it for like sale's injury. No one else except hockey really uses it because there really isn't much research behind it and it's really expensive. Not just the purchase but the up keep. It wouldn't really be applicable in sale's case anyway as it's usually used for soft tissue injuries not really for bone healing. i think it's more hockey due to the international aspect of the sport. Many treatments are used outside of the US that aren't approved or really researched. These international players and coaches get used to it and the teams follow what they want. Hockey is the most international of the "big 4" sports in the US.

QUOTE (LDF @ Mar 11, 2015 -> 04:22 PM) ptatc, what is your opinion of the oxygen tank recovery. i know it was big in hockey esp when Bowman was coach/gm of det. det used it for yazerman to get him back faster for their run to the stanley cup. i was wondering what ever happen to it. Hyperbaric therapy does have some research behind it. It is really popular in hockey for some reason. There is one at the United Center and the blackhawks use it. The theory is that the increased oxygen levels as well as the increased pressure helps to increase the nutrient levels going to the injured areas. This is somewhat supported but not great. Where it is really gaining support is in recovery from concussions and decreasing the lasting effects from the concussions. There are currently two sites in the Chicago area that I am aware of that are doing this type of research. There has been a few small studies but the early results are very promising from what people are saying.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Mar 11, 2015 -> 04:02 PM) As I'm sure you know there's only so much you can do to speed the healing process of ligament and bone. I'm sure he's getting ultrasound 2 or even three times a day but as you said hopefully he is taking his pool work and lifting seriously. If he does HIIT style circuits he can maintain and even improve his conditioning while waiting to get back throwing. He had better not be getting ultrasound over a healing bone. The sound waves will irritate the periosteum and really hurt. That is pretty much the worst thing for healing bone. Ligaments and tendon you can do it butI'm not really in favor of it, personally. He really can't do any lower extremity lifting due to the avulsion healing. You can speed up healing in the frame of giving the area the best environment to heal. You can't speed it up physiologically, however you can make sure that the nutrients are getting there as efficiently as possible. The best way is to make sure the blood is flowing to the area, hence the cardio work. Not really a fan of the HIIT workouts for him either. The high intensity would not be good for the healing bone and ligament for the lower extremity and this early in the Spring is more for building up as opposed to driving up the intensity. Shoulder, elbow and hip stability type exercises are the key right now as this is really where most of the stress from pitching goes.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Mar 11, 2015 -> 03:16 PM) Key from that news is that he's scheduled to resume baseball activities on March 21st. That would give him 23 days to get ready for the April 12th start. I think he can do it but the key will be to actually meet that timetable for starting to throw again. I don't think he's going to meet it and he'll probably make his first start the 17th. That's just my opinion we'll see how it goes. That is reasonable. Hopefully, he is on the bike and in the water to keep his lower extremities in shape so he doesn't lose the endurance there. That is the key to rehab at this point.

QUOTE (shipps @ Feb 25, 2015 -> 06:16 PM) ptac what are your thoughts on the third DRose injury? I apologize if you commented already in the Drose thread but I dont remember seeing one from you. Sorry, I did not get to this earlier. Been a crazy semester. Since the surgeons are nor repairing it, his injury is on a different spot so it is not easily repaired. This should rehab much faster. Once the tear is removed, he will just need to get the edema down and get full strength and he will be good to go. That being said his comments yesterday lead one to believe that he has little confidence in the knee. The rehab is normally 4 weeks, 6 on the outside. Now that there has been two surgeries on the same knee, one being a repair and the other a excision, it's going to feel different. The knee will never be the same. So you knows when he will determine it "feels" ready to go.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 10, 2015 -> 12:36 PM) After his TJ he now has had 2 elbow fractures. Makes you wonder if he is done. Makes sense. The ligament is now stronger than the bone. When he puts the stress on the elbow the bone gives instead of the ligament. That is a very good replacement.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 2, 2015 -> 08:39 PM) It's not like Stanford's a crappy school, haha. One of my students here in China got turned down by them but accepted at MIT (also not wanting to get into the argument about the quality of a state school, versus, let's say Northwestern or Notre Dame). At any rate, like Ozzie, KW got a little bit lazy and started resting on his laurels. Call it cockiness, overconfidence, whatever you want. None of the schools you listed there are state or public universities. They are all private.

After reading more information, I think the writers are confusing tendons with ligaments. The 3 week timeline makes more sense with a ligament avulsion. If this is the case, there will be no long term problems.

QUOTE (staxx @ Feb 28, 2015 -> 02:33 PM) It really shouldn't. Since its on the lateral side of his foot, it's likely a tendon of an intrinsic muscle of the foot that pulled part of the bone off. Once it heals, it really shouldn't effect much of anything. He might have some initial problems with weight transfer through his plant foot. The intrinsic muscles really don't have tendons. By the mechanism of injury it was the fibularis brevis avulsed from the styloid of the 5th metatarsal. 3 weeks is pretty aggressive. I wouldn't think he could start throwing for 4 weeks. It must have been non-displaced.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Feb 16, 2015 -> 08:58 AM) hey now elitist manufacturer scum, I work for a bank and we arent recognizing this fake bank holiday created by us People with kids need to have someone home when the kids are off school. Otherwise the long arm of the law gets upset.