There is nothing more desired in baseball than a young power pitching prospect that can run the radar gun into the upper 90's while maintaining control. Every year five to seven first round picks are used on high school pitchers. Only a quarter of all first round high school pitching prospect selected payoff for the organization. Many of these power arms burn out at a young age because the act of pitching is such a forceful and unnatural movement. The art of pitching has been called the most awkward motion in sports, because it garners so much stress on a pitchers shoulder and/or elbow.
This ties into what we have been talking about in Underworld the constant presence of paranoia. Every front office in baseball is constantly paranoid by the fact that the kid they just handed a multi-million dollar signing bonus to very well could tear a ligament the next time he steps on a mound. There have been countless careers cut short by Tommy John surgeries or shoulder complications. Thanks to medicinal improvements as well as better physical therapy it's now possible for pitchers to come back from major surgeries on their money makers. Some notable players that have had Tommy John surgery and didn't allow it to derail their careers are: C.J. Wilson, John Schmoltz, Chris Carpenter, the newest member of the perfect game club Phil Humber, and the one and only Jamie Moyer (Who at 49 couldn't break 77 mph if he wanted to ). There is a very short list of solid pitchers that have been able to make a full recoveries following surgery on their throwing arm. And the fact that if that throwing arm is not healthy then that player or prospect is completely useless to the team and organization; unless your name's Rick Ankiel in which case your blown out pitching arm sends you back to the minors from which you return a slugging center fielder. The fact that a pitcher is utterly useless to an organization without a strong and healthy pitching arm is a nightmare to any front office or scout in baseball. The whisper of a torn labrum, rotator cuff or the dreaded tear of the ulnar collateral ligament will give any general manager nightmares. Therefore all major league clubs have a heightened level of paranoia that one of the organizations best pitchers could causes injury to the only part of his body that can help the team.
Today the New York Yankees received troubling news when they were informed that prized off-season acquisition Michael Pineda would have season ending surgery. The 23 year old power pitching prospect was brought over from the Seattle Mariners this off-season in a trade for top Yankees prospect Jesus Montero. After a late season call up to the Yankees Montero posted an impressive .328 batting average to go along with 4 home runs and 12 RBI's in only 61 plate appearances.
Many people around baseball that the sky was the limit for the six foot seven inch tall, 260 pound Dominican born power pitcher Michael Pineda. As a rookie last season he pitched 171 innings for the Mariners while posting an impressive 3.74 ERA to go along with 173 strike outs compared to just 55 walks given up. His young electric arm was racking up better than a strike out per nine innings and seemed to be on the cusp of becoming an elite pitcher. His velocity was down in spring training which immideately raised red flags in the Yankees front office. Paranoia and doubt began to creep into the minds of the men that had orchestrated the trade to bring the big man to New York; and pair him with an even bigger man, CC Sabathia, to create New York'ss new twin towers. Unfortunately the Yankees worries were confirmed when they were informed today that Pineda would have to undergo season ending surgery on his torn labrum. The injury is reportedly even tougher to come back from than Tommy John surgery, therefore the Yankees now have an entire year to sit around full of paranoia that their young power pitcher will never make a full-armed recovery.
Blog about Pineda
I agree with the connection your making. I can only imagine how stressful it must be for a baseball owner to hand over many millions of dollars to players who are one step from never playing again - especially since in MLB the contracts are, I think, almost always guaranteed. This also makes me think of Nick Shay and his refusal to believe that his father may not have been killed by mobsters. Much of Nick's life as we know it was based around the idea that his father was killed by the mobsters. He couldn't even bring himself to think for a moment that might not have happened. It shows how he defined his life. I can't imagine what it would be like for a person who defined him/her self as a pitcher to have to deal with a devastating arm injury.
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