If the Nationals had wanted to satisfy their fans, Strasburg would have started on Opening Day.  There's going to be plenty of speculation as to why Strasburg blew out his UCL, and the Nationals will probably be blamed no matter what people think the explanation is.  Either way, this is a really disappointing injury for anyone who gives a damn about MLB.  And keeper-leaguers.

You might as well blame DNA.  If the human arm was meant to throw baseballs at 100 miles an hour eight months of the year, we would have been born with ball bearings in our shoulders and elbows.  Makes the feats of guys like Walter Johnson and Nolan Ryan all the more remarkable -- 20 seasons of throwing the ball 95-100 miles an hour 200 to 400 innings a season.  Without juice (yes, Roger, I'm looking at you)

The good news. if there is any, is that teams will be even more careful with pitch counts and hard limits on innings for their young aces..

Actually thunder, pretty much anybody who knows anything about steroids knows they make you MORE likely to damage ligaments and tendons.  They artificially increase muscle mass with respect to connective tissue strength.  Stronger muscles without more support = more likely to tear.  So Clemens wins that one.  I really don't think you can blame this one on the Nationals.  Strasburg hasn't been throwing an unreasonable number of pitches.  He would never be able to be a true ace without throwing MORE than he has been this year.  Ultimately the problem is probably with 1 or more of Strasburg's prior coaches who didn't correct some mechanical issue that has likely been putting undue stress on his elbow for years because they liked the results he gave them.  Usually when guys this young need Tommy John they need to change their mechanics.  Probably the same deal here.

Posted by dahsdebater on 8/27/2010 6:21:00 PM (view original):
Actually thunder, pretty much anybody who knows anything about steroids knows they make you MORE likely to damage ligaments and tendons.  They artificially increase muscle mass with respect to connective tissue strength.  Stronger muscles without more support = more likely to tear.  So Clemens wins that one.  I really don't think you can blame this one on the Nationals.  Strasburg hasn't been throwing an unreasonable number of pitches.  He would never be able to be a true ace without throwing MORE than he has been this year.  Ultimately the problem is probably with 1 or more of Strasburg's prior coaches who didn't correct some mechanical issue that has likely been putting undue stress on his elbow for years because they liked the results he gave them.  Usually when guys this young need Tommy John they need to change their mechanics.  Probably the same deal here.

Steriods are useful for pitchers, not so much because the drugs mae them stronger, but because they help with recovery.  I'm notsure how much more muscle mass 'roided pitcher have in their arms, but I can't imagine that is ever the goal.