August 20, 20241 yr From Merkin's newsletter. Why do I have the feeling after six months of trying to rehab he'll undergo TJS like so many other Sox pitchers who tried this routine without success: Thorpe began a throwing program this past Thursday, as he told MLB.com on Sunday in Houston. The rookie starter has been on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to Aug. 1, with a right flexor strain. “Feeling pretty good. Hard to tell -- 60 feet and pretty light. So far, so good,” Thorpe said. “Less of the discomfort. Like I said, hard to tell this early. We are in the right direction.” The goal for Thorpe, 23, who is 3-3 with a 5.48 ERA in nine White Sox starts, is achieving full health before worrying about pitching again in ’24. “Just kind of seeing how I feel, and then we’ll kind of build a plan,” Thorpe said. “Just trying to get back to 100 percent for sure.”
August 20, 20241 yr Glad to hear he isn't completely shut down. That is a good sign in the short term.
August 20, 20241 yr 12 minutes ago, Kyyle23 said: The white sox way(tm) Yep. @Lip Man 1 is right and we will hear how he needs TJ in a few months, which will further delay his return. Edited August 20, 20241 yr by WhiteSox2023
August 21, 20241 yr Any decision to have TJ surgery or any surgery is and will always be between a physician and their client. WSox cannot force a player to have surgery, even when they might feel it is in their best interests. They can suggest it and even request a second opinion from team doctors, but that is about how far that goes. Give the player some space to make his own decision.
August 21, 20241 yr 6 minutes ago, tray said: Any decision to have TJ surgery or any surgery is and will always be between a physician and their client. WSox cannot force a player to have surgery, even when they might feel it is in their best interests. They can suggest it and even request a second opinion from team doctors, but that is about how far that goes. Give the player some space to make his own decision. He'd be an idiot not to get TJS. He needs the extra velocity that can come from it.
August 21, 20241 yr True Ron, but as you know, velocity was never a big part of his game and who knows if TJ surgery will make him a flame thrower. Agree though that he should probably have it sooner rather than later. Edited August 21, 20241 yr by tray
August 21, 20241 yr Sad that even soft throwers need TJS ultimately. Baseball training needs an overhaul. I have no idea what's going on but I'd suspect the way our young pitchers with talent go through the different levels of baseball has to be screwed up. Curve balls thrown too early? Arm overused at LL, Babe Ruth, Legion, HS levels? something up with minor league development? Baseball needs to figure something out. There already are dozens of amazingly lousy relievers in baseball with tons of mediocre starters. Sad. Something must be done in development changes.
August 21, 20241 yr Author 2 minutes ago, greg775 said: Sad that even soft throwers need TJS ultimately. Baseball training needs an overhaul. I have no idea what's going on but I'd suspect the way our young pitchers with talent go through the different levels of baseball has to be screwed up. Curve balls thrown too early? Arm overused at LL, Babe Ruth, Legion, HS levels? something up with minor league development? Baseball needs to figure something out. There already are dozens of amazingly lousy relievers in baseball with tons of mediocre starters. Sad. Something must be done in development changes. There are dozens of theories out there as to why pitchers are breaking down like they are. You touch on some of them. Another being discussed is that kids are specializing at an early age (i.e. just play baseball, just play tennis et al) and they are not developing an overall muscular structure, wearing things out to soon. Trainers are suggesting let kids play all sports, different sports to gain overall strength and lateral motion and quickness.
August 21, 20241 yr 3 hours ago, Lip Man 1 said: There are dozens of theories out there as to why pitchers are breaking down like they are. Trainers are suggesting let kids play all sports, different sports to gain overall strength and lateral motion and quickness. Makes sense but no way the mommies and daddies who want scholarships will allow their kids to play more than one sport. Traveling teams make me want to puke. They go to Florida and win the 10 and under World Series at Disney. World Series? LOL. There are probably 1000 World Series around the country in the summer for traveling teams to play in with mommies and daddies monitoring every step of the way. Back in the day parents stayed out of their kids business and kids were happy playing Little League at the 115th and Homan fields. Now ... travel teams baby. We'll teach your kids how to be stars if they play just one sport and we'll get em a schollie for sure if you pay the big travel team fees.
August 21, 20241 yr 6 hours ago, greg775 said: Makes sense but no way the mommies and daddies who want scholarships will allow their kids to play more than one sport. Traveling teams make me want to puke. They go to Florida and win the 10 and under World Series at Disney. World Series? LOL. There are probably 1000 World Series around the country in the summer for traveling teams to play in with mommies and daddies monitoring every step of the way. Back in the day parents stayed out of their kids business and kids were happy playing Little League at the 115th and Homan fields. Now ... travel teams baby. We'll teach your kids how to be stars if they play just one sport and we'll get em a schollie for sure if you pay the big travel team fees. I didn't know it was that severe.
August 21, 20241 yr 52 minutes ago, oldsox said: I didn't know it was that severe. It’s not. Greg is greggin
August 21, 20241 yr If he gets TJS right now he will miss next year, if he waits and they later find he needs TJS he will still miss next year, so I like the Sox approach here. Just wait and see.
August 21, 20241 yr 1 hour ago, Kyyle23 said: It’s not. Greg is greggin My boys play on very high level travel teams, and about 80 pct of their teammates play other sports.
August 21, 20241 yr 45 minutes ago, fathom said: My boys play on very high level travel teams, and about 80 pct of their teammates play other sports. How old? Early specialization is a huge problem, or at least it was up through like 5 years ago when I was still paying close attention to youth sports. I know USA Hockey and the USOC are actively trying to address it.
August 21, 20241 yr 1 hour ago, fathom said: My boys play on very high level travel teams, and about 80 pct of their teammates play other sports. When I was a kid it was pervasive and totally Wild West, kids were pitching every game start to finish parents were the “agents” . Kids nowadays are playing a lot of sports, and fortunately attention has started to fall on arm health so they have done things like pitch counts for the league and stuff like that, and the overbearing parents have been called out a lot. it’s not nearly as bad as the Greg mommy daddy scenario
August 21, 20241 yr 58 minutes ago, JoeC said: How old? Early specialization is a huge problem, or at least it was up through like 5 years ago when I was still paying close attention to youth sports. I know USA Hockey and the USOC are actively trying to address it. 10-14 range
August 21, 20241 yr 36 minutes ago, Kyyle23 said: When I was a kid it was pervasive and totally Wild West, kids were pitching every game start to finish parents were the “agents” . Kids nowadays are playing a lot of sports, and fortunately attention has started to fall on arm health so they have done things like pitch counts for the league and stuff like that, and the overbearing parents have been called out a lot. it’s not nearly as bad as the Greg mommy daddy scenario The biggest problem for arm health isn’t the innings, it’s the velocity training every program does now. It’s unbelievable how hard these kids throw now at an early age.
August 21, 20241 yr 13 minutes ago, fathom said: The biggest problem for arm health isn’t the innings, it’s the velocity training every program does now. It’s unbelievable how hard these kids throw now at an early age. Well if you remember, when me and you were kids curves were bad! Only throw fastballs, curves come later. Maybe changeups as kids but no curves. now we are at the other side of the pendulum. And I get it that it’s hard to “grow” a kid as an athlete and keep him both at an upward strength trajectory and safe. People grow and develop at different rates. We see kids in little league WS that look like seniors in Hs playing with and against kids that look younger than 10. I just don’t see it as considerably worse than the glory years Greg is pining for. Kids back then blew out their arms and were never heard from again
August 21, 20241 yr 1 minute ago, Kyyle23 said: Well if you remember, when me and you were kids curves were bad! Only throw fastballs, curves come later. Maybe changeups as kids but no curves. now we are at the other side of the pendulum. And I get it that it’s hard to “grow” a kid as an athlete and keep him both at an upward strength trajectory and safe. People grow and develop at different rates. We see kids in little league WS that look like seniors in Hs playing with and against kids that look younger than 10. I just don’t see it as considerably worse than the glory years Greg is pining for. Kids back then blew out their arms and were never heard from again Lots of research out there that agrees with you that curves are less dangerous than max velocity
August 21, 20241 yr 27 minutes ago, fathom said: Lots of research out there that agrees with you that curves are less dangerous than max velocity I don’t even know what is considered absolute correct. I know that there are definitely coaches out there that have no skin in the game except for notoriety, and they are out there coaching kids like they are in game 7, and that stuff sucks
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