[IRISH4]

I heard today that he was injured playing summer ball and will require Tommy John surgery to repair his throwing arm. Is there any truth to this?

[BatCat11]

First ive heard about this

[MR. Slate]

i hope not, he threw an awful lot of breaking pitches in the games i watched him pitch this year.

[kybaseball]

I am 99% sure he is having surgery but not sure what the injury is.

[fanatic11]

Is he going to be healed in time for the season?

[Ring'Em Up]

Gee ohh. Let's hope it's not true.

[Mr.Kimball]

Is he going to be healed in time for the season?

If it is indeed Tommy John related surgery, probably not. The complete Tommy John recovery and rehabilitation period is approximately a 20 month process.

[fanatic11]

If it is indeed Tommy John related surgery, probably not. The complete Tommy John recovery and rehabilitation period is approximately a 20 month process.

I knew it was a long time, but I had no idea it was this long. This could be very bad for LC if this is true.

[Mr.Kimball]

I knew it was a long time, but I had no idea it was this long. This could be very bad for LC if this is true.

While there has been no confirmation that this is even true, it's maybe premature to speculate anything. But if this is true, it would probably not be out of the question for him to come back and pitch his senior season. His velocity would more than likely not be back 100%, but his throwing in a limited and monitored enviroment would be part of his rehabilition process.

[Stardust]

While there has been no confirmation that this is even true, it's maybe premature to speculate anything. But if this is true, it would probably not be out of the question for him to come back and pitch his senior season. His velocity would more than likely not be back 100%, but his throwing in a limited and monitored enviroment would be part of his rehabilition process.

He is going into his Jr. year this year correct?

[UKfrenzy]

If this is true i feel bad for the kid

[Mr.Kimball]

He is going into his Jr. year this year correct?

Yes, that's right.

[KINGJAMES#1]

I'm 100% sure he is having surgery, not sure if its Tommy Johns surgery or not though. Either way its a huge blow to LC baseball.

[firechief]

Someone explain to me WHY he is playing summer ball.

[Stardust]

Someone explain to me WHY he is playing summer ball.

Why wouldn't he?

[Armchair QB]

Someone explain to me WHY he is playing summer ball.

Why not? It is common practice by high school and college players. I hope this is not true.

[Stardust]

90% of ulnar collateral ligament tears are a result of historic weakness in the ligamament. Summer Ball did not cause this. Had he not done it now, it would have happened later. A ligament gets stretched and small fissures develop. These are like bone spurs, they don't heal, they have to be repaired. Thus, if the young man had issues, it would have happened regardless. Summer Ball is NOT the culprit, nor is it Chandlers own doing that caused this, it "just happens". In this instance, it's best that it happened now, instead of next season.

[IRISH4]

Someone explain to me WHY he is playing summer ball.

Why not? The high school baseball season is too short IMO, you get to play 3 months out of the year and that's it...you have to start back over. Usually kids don't start to improve or take their game to the next step until about 20 games in, or later...due to the short season they are forced to stop when they are making a turn for the better. Summer baseball allows them to play anywhere from 40-80 extra games...seeing more pitches for hitters and playing in various situations on defense will help them become more complete players. Those that play summer ball will take the gains made during the summer to Feb. 15 and will progress as players each season and have a chance to reach their full potential.

[Mr.Kimball]

Someone explain to me WHY he is playing summer ball.

Being one of the top pitchers in the state, he had the opportunity to play for one of the premier summer programs in the country.

[Mr.Kimball]

90% of ulnar collateral ligament tears are a result of historic weakness in the ligamament. Summer Ball did not cause this. Had he not done it now, it would have happened later. A ligament gets stretched and small fissures develop. These are like bone spurs, they don't heal, they have to be repaired. Thus, if the young man had issues, it would have happened regardless. Summer Ball is NOT the culprit, nor is it Chandlers own doing that caused this, it "just happens". In this instance, it's best that it happened now, instead of next season.

Unfortunately if this is true, it is something that I feared for him. I made mention earlier in threads during the regular season about my fears of this happening. I guess there are instances of genetics having caused these problems , but if you watched him throw you would understand how his mechanics may have induced this injury. He throws in a very upright standing position and has an extremely short stride that suddenly comes to a halt. He then has a very short whip action, generating a lot of arm speed, that has to have put extreme stress to the elbow area. Chandler has pitched a ton of innings his whole career since he has been very young, and has thrown tons of curve balls to go on top of it. I always thought that a longer stride and more leg push would have been to his benefit, not only giving him a chance of longivity, but would have given him a couple more MPH's velocity.

You are correct about the timing on it however. As frustrating and disapointing that it is to suffer an injury such as this and have to misss playing time, it is by no means a career ending injury. My oldest son had to redshirt a year in college a couple of years ago with UCL related problems. He sat out a year, had surgery and can still hit the 90's regularly after going through the therapy and a throwing program. He should still get the opportunity to pitch his senior year and I dont think that in the long run it will deter any scout's opinions on him. Many times due to the intense rehabilitation program that you go through, the pitcher many times ends up throwing harder than before the injury.

You are correct also in that this ligament will not heal. What actually happens is that a donor ligament is extracted, generally fromn the opposite wrist, (provided there is a suitable donor ligament). Holes are then drilled into the elbow bones and the donor ligament is then attached using a figure 8 type weave to secure it.

I hate it for him, I really do. Best of luck through the rehab process though, if there is in fact a chance that this has happened.

[Youngerthandirt]

I'm sure a lot will disagree and that's why this is a discussion board, but a 16, 17, 18 year old "boy" should NOT play 120 games a year. The summer season should be limited. They aren't old enough, strong enough and wise enough to play that many games. The same is true in basketball and other sports, with all the camps and aau, some of these 14, 15, 16 years old players are involved in more than 100 basketball games. That's to much pounding on the body for 90% of the ones playing.
Again, it's my opinion, but I think you need to let the body rest. I've witnessed kids play in a baseball game, play a summer league basketball game and practice football all in the same week. The game is suppose to be something you love, and you need to prepare yourself to be the best you can be, but at the same time, you need to be physically able to participate in an allowable amount of games that doesn't put overdue stress on young arms or young bodies.
Disagree if you want, but I've been through this, and sometimes a parent has to say.....it's time to rest and be a kid......take a couple weeks off and have fun.
One other thingh, I see several post where people on wondering what this will do to LCHS or this will hurt LCHS. Forget LCHS, wish the kid good health and good luck, it's his future and his career.

[Mr.Kimball]

I'm sure a lot will disagree and that's why this is a discussion board, but a 16, 17, 18 year old "boy" should NOT play 120 games a year. The summer season should be limited. They aren't old enough, strong enough and wise enough to play that many games. The same is true in basketball and other sports, with all the camps and aau, some of these 14, 15, 16 years old players are involved in more than 100 basketball games. That's to much pounding on the body for 90% of the ones playing.
Again, it's my opinion, but I think you need to let the body rest. I've witnessed kids play in a baseball game, play a summer league basketball game and practice football all in the same week. The game is suppose to be something you love, and you need to prepare yourself to be the best you can be, but at the same time, you need to be physically able to participate in an allowable amount of games that doesn't put overdue stress on young arms or young bodies.
Disagree if you want, but I've been through this, and sometimes a parent has to say.....it's time to rest and be a kid......take a couple weeks off and have fun.
One other thingh, I see several post where people on wondering what this will do to LCHS or this will hurt LCHS. Forget LCHS, wish the kid good health and good luck, it's his future and his career.

A lot of truth to what your saying, been there and done that now twice with a third one on the way. I learned a whole lot with the first two.

However I want to explain that for a position player , 120 games is not as demanding and physically taxing as it is for a pitcher. 120 games for a postion player is really no big deal. It's when you start throwing 100-150+ innings over the course of spring, summer and fall seasons that the damage takes place for a pitcher. In most instances you have a different coach for each phase . The big problem that I have is during the summer and fall is there is too much emphasis placed on winning meaningless games.. This is the time for developing players not to be worried about winning at any or all costs. Take the time to develope that kid that never got the chance to throw much during the high school season a little more, and let the stud throw when he has had a resonable amount of recovery time from his previous time on the mound. A lot of these coaches take nothing into consideration of what the pitcher has done during his previous stint with the previous team they played for. Bottom line however, the parent is the one to blame for letting overuse happen. We as parents are sometimes not as educated on the aspects of the physical demands of what pitching constitutes as we should be.

[Stardust]

Unfortunately if this is true, it is something that I feared for him. I made mention earlier in threads during the regular season about my fears of this happening. I guess there are instances of genetics having caused these problems , but if you watched him throw you would understand how his mechanics may have induced this injury. He throws in a very upright standing position and has an extremely short stride that suddenly comes to a halt. He then has a very short whip action, generating a lot of arm speed, that has to have put extreme stress to the elbow area. Chandler has pitched a ton of innings his whole career since he has been very young, and has thrown tons of curve balls to go on top of it. I always thought that a longer stride and more leg push would have been to his benefit, not only giving him a chance of longivity, but would have given him a couple more MPH's velocity.

You are correct about the timing on it however. As frustrating and disapointing that it is to suffer an injury such as this and have to misss playing time, it is by no means a career ending injury. My oldest son had to redshirt a year in college a couple of years ago with UCL related problems. He sat out a year, had surgery and can still hit the 90's regularly after going through the therapy and a throwing program. He should still get the opportunity to pitch his senior year and I dont think that in the long run it will deter any scout's opinions on him. Many times due to the intense rehabilitation program that you go through, the pitcher many times ends up throwing harder than before the injury.

You are correct also in that this ligament will not heal. What actually happens is that a donor ligament is extracted, generally fromn the opposite wrist, (provided there is a suitable donor ligament). Holes are then drilled into the elbow bones and the donor ligament is then attached using a figure 8 type weave to secure it.

I hate it for him, I really do. Best of luck through the rehab process though, if there is in fact a chance that this has happened.

A lot of truth to what your saying, been there and done that now twice with a third one on the way. I learned a whole lot with the first two.

However I want to explain that for a position player , 120 games is not as demanding and physically taxing as it is for a pitcher. 120 games for a postion player is really no big deal. It's when you start throwing 100-150+ innings over the course of spring, summer and fall seasons that the damage takes place for a pitcher. In most instances you have a different coach for each phase . The big problem that I have is during the summer and fall is there is too much emphasis placed on winning meaningless games.. This is the time for developing players not to be worried about winning at any or all costs. Take the time to develope that kid that never got the chance to throw much during the high school season a little more, and let the stud throw when he has had a resonable amount of recovery time from his previous time on the mound. A lot of these coaches take nothing into consideration of what the pitcher has done during his previous stint with the previous team they played for. Bottom line however, the parent is the one to blame for letting overuse happen. We as parents are sometimes not as educated on the aspects of the physical demands of what pitching constitutes as we should be.

MK, You are the man :Thumbs: Absolutely awesome posts!

[Mr.Kimball]

MK, You are the man :Thumbs: Absolutely awesome posts!

Naw, not really. I just learned everything the hard way Dusty. But thanks anyways!!

[Youngerthandirt]

Kimball, I agree that the parent is responsible or needs to take control and coaches have one thing in mind....winning. I still think 120 games a year is too much, most minor league divisions will play less games, and these guys are 19 to 25 years old.

I watched your sons play, and you did a lot to help them, and a lot to control their progress, most want them to play until they can't play no more. You did well, and so have they.

[Mr.Kimball]

Kimball, I agree that the parent is responsible or needs to take control and coaches have one thing in mind....winning. I still think 120 games a year is too much, most minor league divisions will play less games, and these guys are 19 to 25 years old.

I watched your sons play, and you did a lot to help them, and a lot to control their progress, most want them to play until they can't play no more. You did well, and so have they.

I really appreciate you saying that Dirt, as I know that I can honestly say that you have done that very same thing and have as much to be proud of as any parent could be. And it goes way beyound what ever their athletic successes have been. It's mind boggling when you sit back and look at what has transpired for you and yours. You and the Mrs. are both to be commended for the way in which yours turned out , again on and off the courts/field. I guess you and I now are both able to look at what the important issues are, and manner in which you go about getting there. You and I both stood side by side in the workplace once upon a time. Who could have imagined 30+ years ago that things would have happened as they have. I truely admire what your family has achieved and the way in which you have directed it to come about.

[Youngerthandirt]

Can I borrow and kleenex.....*L* You hit me where it hurts.

Children are the reason we get up in the mornings and go about our daily chores. They deserve the chance to be successful in life, and I truly believe sports help them face the struggles that will come their way. We, all of us parents, need to do everything we can do to make those things happen.
Good luck to you and your family, and again, thanks for your kind words.

[*Innocentbystander*]

Has anyone confirmed this to be true or not?

[BlackcatAlum]

Has anyone confirmed this to be true or not?

It is true.

[Stardust]

It is true.

He will be fine. This young man has talent. I have a player that had the surgery last December. He missed his HS season, but played in the summer. His arm strength is continuing to get stronger. He threw 83 last year when he injured his arm. He is expected to be throwing 85-88 as a result of the new ligament and arm strength. My guess is that if Chandler has the surgery now, he will be back next summer as good as he was this spring.