Tommy John — the former major league pitcher for whom the surgery performed on Washington Nationals phenom Stephen Strasburg was named — has two suggestions for the recovering young pitcher.
One, take your time coming back.
Two, when you come back, change the way you throw.
Surely the Nationals will do everything they can to make sure that Strasburg does take his time returning to the mound. But there are no indications that when Strasburg does come back, he is going to fire the ball to hitters any differently.
Reports say that Strasburg, who had the elbow ligament replacement — Tommy John surgery — in early September, has begun some light throwing. He will continue to rehabilitate his pitching elbow with the expectation that he could make a return at the end of the 2011 season, as his teammate, Jordan Zimmermann, did last season coming back from the surgery.
But here is how John, who had the revolutionary ligament replacement surgery in 1974 after blowing out his pitching elbow and returned to win 164 more games until he retired in 1989 — would advise Strasburg and the Nationals on his recovery and return to pitching.
“Longer is better,” John told “The Sports Reporters” on ESPN 980. The former pitcher was in Asburn, Va., to appear at the fanfest for the Loudoun Hounds — the new Atlantic League team that will begin play in 2012.
“I don’t care what they say. The rehab is much better now than it ever was, but the one thing they can’t do is they cannot speed up the healing process,” he said. “What difference does it make if Stephen Strasburg is out 10 months or 15 months?
“If I were the Washington Nationals, I would want Stephen Strasburg, when he gets on the mound, to start pitching and never break down again until he retires from the game,” John said. “But everyone wants to be the first.”
John also said that when Strasburg does return, he better find a different way to deliver the ball and put less stress on his motion.
“All I am saying is they get in what they call the scarecrow position,” John said. “And everybody I have ever seen that gets into that position … when you get your arm hanging down, now you are striding out, and you say, ‘I can throw harder.’ But it has to cock back and cock forward at a high rate of speed.
“They say if you get strong enough, it will hold up. Well, if you get your shoulder stronger than your elbow, then your elbow is going to blow. And if you get your elbow stronger than your shoulder, then your shoulder is going to blow,” John said. “Why not just take your hand, move it a quarter of a turn, then when you come back you make a circle. Your arm is up on top and then all you have to do is launch it toward home plate. You take one aspect of straining your shoulder out of the equation.”
Similar concerns were raised last year by Chicago White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper in a radio interview. So the Strasburg watch not only will be about when he comes back to pitch but about what kind of pitcher the most valued commodity of the Nationals is when he returns.
Examiner columnist Thom Loverro is the co-host of “The Sports Fix” from noon to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on ESPN980 and espn980.com. Contact him at [email protected].
