The Rising Numbers of Tommy John Surgery

Think back a decade ago. The occurrence of Tommy John Surgery was rare and if someone did have to undergo it, it would usually only be 1-3 players per season. In present day, that number has certainly changed. Over the last decade, there has been a very large increase in the number of players who need the surgery. According to MLB Network, 30 major league pitchers had Tommy John Surgery in 2014. Not only is the number of players increasing, but the age they have to have it is decreasing, meaning that younger players in the minor leagues are also needing it. This doesn't just include Major Leaguers, but also high school and college students who hope to get drafted. Yu Darvish, Josh Edgin, and Zack Wheeler, among a few others, are the most recent victims.

The surgery has a good success rate, but there is still some chance of a failure. Jeremy Hefner, for example, underwent Tommy John surgery in 2013. Originally, it appeared the surgery was a success, but unfortunately, his UCL tore again and he needed a second Tommy John surgery. Whether he is able to return from this remains to be seen, though it has been done in the past. 

The important thing to note is that some of the biggest names in the game, such as Adam Wainwright and Stephen Strasburg, have undergone the surgery and extremely successful returns. Even some younger or up-and-coming stars, such as NL ROY, Jacob deGrom, have undergone the surgery with successful comebacks. I don't even need to mention their level of success. Any baseball fan has heard their names. Often times someone who undergoes a successful Tommy John surgery returns throwing harder than before and usually pitch the same as they did previously, sometimes even better. This isn't due to the surgery, rather the rigorous rehabilitation program the player must undergo in order to return. The rehabilitation time varies amongst the players. Most will go through 12 to 15 months of rehab in order to return healthy. Matt Harvey underwent almost an 18-month rehab period, which could lead to a potential impact on the length of the rehabilitation, especially if he was a very successful season. 

So, what exactly is the way to prevent it? Why was there such a drastic increase? The benefit of Tommy John Surgery is that it allows the return of pitchers who would have otherwise been done. However, it's also very known that there is no way to stop it. Many doctors have theories, but the major thing to understand is that this doesn't occur out of the blue. The UCL doesn't just snap. The top reason originally stated by Dr. Frank Jobe, the creator of the surgery, is overuse. The question is, if there's a such thing as inning caps and lower pitch counts, why has the number of surgeries gone up? The number of complete games was much higher say, 50 years ago, than it is now. If pitcher's aren't going to distance as often, why are so many falling victim to a UCL tear, requiring Tommy John Surgery?

Perhaps the answer doesn't lie in the here and now, rather in the development of the pitcher since they were on a youth level team. Young players are now pitching year-round in these youth leagues; therefore, a strain and eventual tear of the UCL can build up from when the player was participating in these leagues. It's not just how often they're pitching, but the types of pitches. They're no longer just throwing your standard fastball or curveball, but are now learning much more technical pitches at a younger age. Two players who went to the Little League World Series received Tommy John Surgery at just 14 years old. Due to the young age pitchers are receiving it, there is now more time for it to fail, causing surgery to be needed again in the future. 

So, maybe the change has to start in little league. It's a hard thing to do, especially with these little league teams not having many pitchers and a high frequency of games. This pushes young teenagers to pitch more often than they should. There's a need for better moderation of young pitchers in order to prevent this from occurring in the future. Changes need to be made in order to combat what some call a growing epidemic. There has to be some way to change the direction of these numbers and if this is something that builds up over time, which it seems to be, young players must be protected in order to benefit their health for the future. 

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