This Is Actually Horrible 

How has 67% of watchers still not subscribed to this channel? That’s just as mind boggling as 15-19 year olds needing Tommy John surgery.

I commented at one point about this on the video you made on Degrom needing TJ. I'm a 19-year-old college sophomore. I play at a D3 level, so neither I nor any of the guys I play with or against are gonna sniff the big leagues... BUT... Last year, we had 6 guys on our pitching staff go down with arm-related injuries; all of them were complaining about pain on or around their elbow area. Turns out, 3 of them needed TJ, and one of them needed TJ for a SECOND TIME at just age 20. Even TODAY, at the dinner table in the dining hall, one of our pitchers I was sitting with was talking about how his "Arm was fucked" and he "might need TJ." It's brutal. I mean, I love these guys; they're my best friends, but as a guy who just stands on first base and catches balls when they're thrown at him, it's really hard to watch my fellow teammates actively hurting themselves day in and day out. Even at the D3 level, it's a very real thing, and these guys are hitting 90 tops. It's sad, and I think coaches at all levels need to adapt the way they coach in order to keep their players healthy rather than make them Shohei. Sheri's eight-year-old son with the new Meta also isn't gonna hit 38 homers and finish with a sub-2 ERA, so that needs to stop as well. We need to enjoy this game before all of our elbows are 6 feet under and so is this game. Thank you for my TED talk, and I will see you again in 6 months when the reports come out that Blake Snell, Eric Cartman, and Princess Peach all have to undergo TJ.

In Bartolo colons autobiography, he talks about how a lot of American children/teen/young adult players he’s seen today didn’t get the same kind of slow- preventative exercises to strengthen ligaments and improve bodily function that he saw others get 20-30 years ago. It’s all about flash in the pan greatness and not the slow burn it takes to have a lasting healthy career.

I had Tommy John at 15, little less than a week before my 16th birthday. I played a year up on traveling tournament teams. Made varsity as a pitcher only for my high school. A week later I couldn’t throw and took off 6 months hoping it would heal on its own. Never got to play a game for my high school. Wish there was more information about this spread to youth coaches and more caution with young arms. I was suppose to go to college on scholarship for baseball and had that taken away from because of poor decisions from my coaches as a kid

If you were expecting Batman to be the first thing you see on a video about baseball's elbow epidemic, congratulations

They're teaching 16 year olds how to get 98 to 100 MPH out of their bodies and arms. Very few full grown men arms can handle those forces. Is this a surprise?

Problem nowadays is that kids aren't allowed to play multiple sports. Using the same body part over and over again throughout the year will wear it down and eventually get hurt.

appreciate you working hard on content during the off-season, the only thing i can look forward to

This has been coming for years. I coached my nephews 13-14 team 7 years ago now, and it was ridiculous how hard parents and coaches push these kids. 13-14 year old kids throwing maximum effort on every pitch and snapping off sliders constantly. It was not hard to predict this at all.

Another factor (besides the ball) I believe is the shorter days rest between outings. In Japan, NPB pitchers throw once per week thanks to six-man rotation. MLB however has less starting rotation with five. Furthermore, the pitchers may have to pitch again after four days of rest.

When I pitched as a kid I would throw 'fastballs' with different grips. You need to work on accuracy first. Look at Greg Maddux. Save the elbows!

I don’t play anymore but I’m really glad my ex-trainer never had me do any fancy stuff when I was in little league. He was very adamant about NOT teaching me as an 8-9 year-old how to throw things such as a curveball or other related pitches. Only thing that mattered was smooth, clean mechanics.

Interview the trainer Eric Cressey. He works with MLB pitchers and will talk your ear off about this epidemic. He's the man.

This isn’t about sheer velocity or pitch counts though, it’s about that compared to when your arm can handle. I can go out on the mound and probably throw 200 pitches of 55 mph before needing to take a break, put a 10 year old on the mound who average 55 however and they won’t do as well. It’s all about how much your arm can handle. Nolan Ryan played 27 years throwing 100+ for over 5000 innings before ever needing Tommy John. Justin Verlander didn’t need Tommy John until he was like 37 either

Well, i was not really expecting to see Batman here, it's impressive

Makes us realize what a freak of nature Nolan Ryan was

Remember pitchers like Andy Pettitte, Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, Al Leiter, Johan Santana, Trevor Hoffman, guys that could go 7+innings or had good changup speed that could fool anyone?

First off, great video. You did great explaining everything happening in TJ. I also wanted to mention other things that are impacting the injury. For one, guys are being taught to go 100 percent effort every pitch. Well, for one, you're trying to throw everything stressful. When degrom won the CY award in 2018, he was sitting 95 to 97, topping 100. But analytics showed they they can't touch his max of 100, so throw it every time was the motto. Lastly, once guys get to college, they will throw a ton like at least 6 out of the 7 days. Then, after season, it's straight into summer ball.

My two cents, from having elbow issues through college many moons ago, I was told by a Mets affiliated doctor that showcase tournaments and the radar gun have ruined arms. Showcase tournaments where you're not there to win but to show off your talents and light up the gun. I was specifically told one of the reasons I was recruited was that we played in tournaments to WIN. My elbow issues stemmed from either only pitching or catching, bad mechanics and a weak shoulder.

This is why we don't need kids to specialize in a specific sport before college. Studies have shown that kids throwing during less than 8 months of the year have a 500% decrease in elbow injuries compared to those who throw more than 8 months in a year

Too many parents and coaches taking a game too seriously and destroying arms before they’ve even developed. We were always taught to throw fastballs, change ups, and palm balls. Maybe a knuckle ball, but not breaking pitches. I remember seeing my first curve ball thrown in little league and couldn’t believe coaches and parents were letting kids throw pitches like this at 12 years old or so. Your body isn’t even fully developed, let alone a complex structure like the elbow. It’s insanity.

Have we factored in that 15-19 year olds statistically make up the majority of the country’s baseball players? A lot more high school programs than there are professional teams for adults to play in

There is a lotta topics we may differ on but you are SPOT ON with this. These kids are being pushed to do too much way too fast.

Do we want to talk about Shohei getting Tommy John, hitting all through his recovery, and then getting Tommy John again right after coming back from his first Tommy John? Because it seems to me that after a major surgery like that the body needs rest, not to be forced to perform on that elbow again but in a slightly different role.

I had elbow problems at age 13, no tommy john thank goodness, but my dad had that kind of "mindset" that you were talking about, the one where you have to win everything. I eventually took to hiding my injuries from him, because he would get really angry. Hopefully I don't have to get Tommy John in the future :)

There is a pretty good reason why Walker Buehler decided not to rush back this last season. He already got 2 Tommy John’s. I think the guy realized it was hurting him to keep forcing 97+ MPH FBs or even trying to throw Kershaw level curveballs. To make matters worse Dustin May rushed back early 2023 just to end up under the knife again. The league and the fans need to realize 97+ was never sustainable, it was fun but overall this will just hurt baseball. Italk makes extremely good and meaningful points here. I just hope enough people accept it.

My 13 year old cousin plays baseball year round in Mississippi and he plays in multiple leagues at once.(pitcher and 1st baseman) During the summer he practices and plays almost every day, sometimes twice a day. He even played baseball this past fall during football season. Football practice MWTF with games on Tuesday, baseball practice 3-4 days a week with travel ball tournaments on Sat and Sunday(2 leagues) The only day he doesn't play baseball is tuesday because of the football game.(plays right guard) He pitches once on Sat and once on Sun, with no pitch restrictions between the unaffiliated leagues. He's pretty big and stout for his age and throws hard in mid to low 80s with sliders and curveballs. His dream is to play baseball at Mississippi State. I've been encouraging him to take up something like city league basketball and school track to diversify his talents and give his arm a break but he won't hear it. It's baseball 24/7-365.

As a baseball coach the only thing I can think of are the mechanics of how the player is throwing a pitch. I've always taught my players I'd rather you control where you want to throw it than throwing hard bc even "soft" stuff can be hard to time properly for batters. I also don't think players work on flexibility and working the smaller muscles of the arm and shoulders as well as throwing with your legs and not it being all arm exertion.

There’s a lot more players playing baseball between 15-19 than older ages. Tj for some kids in that age is a career killer and for college players. There’s a larger sample size with players between the ages 15-19 which is a reason why it accounts for most surgeries.

This IS horrible. I play high school baseball and I feel like I need to throw at least 75 as a sophomore just to have a chance at playing time, and some training methods like plyo balls can be used wrong and hurt the ligaments. All of these factors basically encourage kids to get TJ. Another kid in the program got TJ as a freshman, and a couple of labrum surgeries have happened too. Just horrific

I totally disagree with the notion that the MLB can't do anything about this issue. If the league actively started advocating for young pitchers health then parents and coaches would start listening. It's similar to how concussions were treated in football. The NFL spent years trying to ignore the issue and sweep it under the rug. But after a ton of lobbying and activism by fans, players, and doctors, the league finally began to take those injuries seriously, and concussion protocols started becoming universal for every level of the sport.

My JV coach never enforced pitching to the kids who never pitched before. Told us that the human arm is not meant to be hurling baseballs like that and it takes a tremendous toll on your arm. But emphasized that is why we play defense for our guys who do it and back them up with runs. I remember he told us “I don’t care if you can throw if your fastball is 150mph. Your best pitch is strike 1.” His style of saying control>velocity.

Amazing video. I’ve watched all your RU-vid uploads and this is at the top of my list. I’m glad you shed some light on a situation that needs attention… Keep up the amazing work and look forward to your future content 🔥

Great content pal! As always! Love your channel, keep up!

We are seeing the same thing happening in basketball. The rise in specialization in sports in children and teens will contribute heavily to injuries not only when they are young but when they are older aswell

Most 15-19 yr Olds are not mechanically adept to throw high velocity without injury. Prioritizing speed over accuracy at that age, particularly without elite mechanics guarantees kids will need surgery.

You're getting more and more impressive with your videos

And a lot fans think players are soft and aren’t built like before while ignoring that these kids are ran to the ground before they graduate HS! The fact POs exist in HS and travel ball is insane.

I really believe part of it is the pitch counts (limiting the number of pitches), and the introduction of breaking balls to kids really early. I know people who teach 8 and 9 year olds breaking balls. If you want to teach kids anything, teach them a change up.

This video was amazing! Super informative

Excellent, and sorely needed commentary. Baseball and all sports became all about power and less about athleticism and finesse. It’s made sports vastly more dangerous, and boring. Starting kids down this path borders on abuse. Thanks again.

My teammate had to get elbow surgery at just 14 back in October which sucks because he cant pitch for a year

I’m just genuinely curious that student baseball is more way more competitive in Japan. A lot of schools even required them to live in dorms and practice over 10 hours a day. They basically throw 100+ pitches of bullpen every single day, yet they don’t really get Tommy John surgeries. I really don’t know how.

The real problem is competition. Ultimately if you take 4 months off, there will be someone who will continue to throw that entire time and will present as a "better" pitcher, even if it is in the short term. Teams should discourage this when signing young pitchers, as it will put their investment at risk. And we all know this is all about the money for team owners.....

During my middle school and now high school baseball career I had to stop play because of elbow injury for the last 5 years I didn’t play a full season of baseball. Now I had to quit because the profession I want to do in the future needs me to have a health arm. It is very sad.

Nolan Ryan was able to pitch into his mid 40s as a hard thrower and never needed Tommy John surgery as far as I know. It would be useful to study how he was able to do it.

During a televised LLWS game, one of the commentators said children should throw fastballs and changeups and practice breaking balls later on.

We need to bring back finesse pitchers especially since throwing 100+ mph all the time isn't sustainable.

As an umpire, up to varsity, I unfortunately see this quite often. It’s too bad how important people seem to think this it is. It makes me sad and feel the worst for the kids.

Holy crap! That's actually insane!

Japan's youth baseball leagues are incomparably competitive, probably the most intense youth league in the world, the coaches not only make kids to shave hair to army style, but they make those kids throw insanely a lot... although they might be throwing less harder in average compared to kids in States, but it's like a norm that the starting pitcher throws 3 digit number of balls every game with significantly less time between games starting, yet TJ surgery is not a common thing in Japan yet... I don't mean I support how Japan trains their young pitching prospects but MLB should at least study on how Japan keeps their pitchers relatively healthier

Look at Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Triple Crown three-peater, averages 180 innings per season, has a sub-2 career ERA. He doesn't look like he's seen a weight room but can throw 100 mph. And to top it all off, he throws complete game shutouts in playoff games with the season on the line. He has both the volume and the stuff to be a hall of famer.

I can attest to the “once you quit sports as a teenager it affects the rest of your life” part. I had tons of knee injuries in my early-mid teenage years playing sports, and it got to a point where I was too scared to do anything active so I didn’t, which led to me blowing up like 70 pounds. It was horrible. Granted I started being more active again in the last few years, but again more injuries from me taking “sports” too seriously, makes it scary to keep going

This video should be watched by all parents and would-be parents. When I was a kid, I used to throw baseballs all the time as a pitcher. During the weekend with my dad. During evenings on the field. And I did that year long (yes, my parents had me follow indoor pitching lessons during the winter). I loved it. At age 15, my elbow started to hurt badly, and I have never been able to throw a single pitch on the mound since then. Diagnosis: little league elbow -- an overuse injury that invariably occurs during childhood. This video is right on point: make your kids play different sports throughout the year, and don't make them focus on a single one until their body is fully mature.

Aaaaand that's why when I was a Kid, we were not even allowed to throw certain pitches...because it would wreck your arm quickly while young.

Threw out my shoulder at 15 (parents didn’t push me, it was of my own volition, and maybe too much youth group dodgeball coupled with pitching 3 games a week) Ruined my chances to ever pitch in high school and led to a menagerie of shoulder problems later on.

I'm a position player and never needed Tommy John, but I tore my rotator cuff from overworking myself. I can't play baseball anymore because I lack full range of motion in my throwing arm. Just be careful guys, these injuries, however rare, are extremely serious.

As a someone who is playing high school baseball I feel like the tournaments in high school aren’t to win for the trophy it’s for recognition and to get a opportunity to show your skill to scouts and others

A couple kids from my old high school had Tommy John; it’s scary dangerous when you don’t pitch and recover healthily.

7:52 No Skenes is not a good example. Overuse injuries happen at the time of overuse. Mechanics, programming, strength and conditioning, mobility, and rest all play a massive role in arm injuries and Skenes had the combination of those factors to handle those outings. Youth leagues all over the country have pitch count restrictions yet the number of arm injuries keeps increasing, which suggests that the issue goes much deeper than pitch counts.

One thing I thought about at the start of this video and it was touched on briefly is the lack of multi sport athletes anymore....and as the doctor pointed out, lack of downtime. I think in a generic sense, playing multiple sports enhances your all around athleticism, and maybe that strengthens your overall body and ligaments, as different sports requires different muscle and body movements. You take some of yesteryears professional athletes, a lot of MLB starting pitchers also quarterbacked their HS football team and visa versa. I believe some current MLB pitchers toss a football as part of a workout routine.

I don’t if you’ve heard of this but I’ve heard of dads telling their sons to purposely throw their arms out to get Tommy John surgery. Absolutely ridiculous.

Read Jeff Passan's book "The Arm". Written in 2017, it highlighted this problem way back then. The ages for TJS have been dropping precipitously.

As a high school student myself, I play football and baseball, so I’m not playing baseball year round. On top of that, I play Center Field in baseball, and don’t pitch, so I (hopefully) won’t need to get TJ. My friends on the other hand, who play baseball year round and mainly pitch, I just hope no one has to get TJ.

The problem is there is not break. They play spring, summer, fall, and travel ball. They then do pitching training in the winter. They need time to rest.

My UCL was damn near toast when I got to sophomore year. Had to decide between keep playing and probably have to get Tommy John day or quit. I quit and I still regret it, even if it was the right choice for my body.

The workhorse pitchers in the league are the pitchers who don't rely on the 100+ MPH fastball. Having the superstar is nice, but there is a point where the increased skill of the heavy thrower matches up to the reliability of the pitcher who throws not so hard. Now if there is a 100+ MPH guy who is healthy most of the time then that is a stud

I usually am not a fan of your takes but this is a great vid.

Additionally, research is showing players who catch and pitch (and play 3d and ss) carry the burden of a heavy load. It should be encouraged that EVERY player must catch and pitch, to ensure that every player carries the burden of the workload.

Never had elbow surgery, and my PR in a game is in the 250's. Had shoulder surgery though 😅

That stat of kids having tommy johns more often than guys throwing 100+ proves this is more of a mechanics issue than a speed issue.

4:30 yes 15-19 year olds do make up 25% of that, but there are SIGNIFICANTLY more 15-19 year olds throwing baseballs hard than 25-29 year olds.

100% agree with you on this one, let your kids be kids. Let them go play, ride their bikes, play butts up, play tag, play soccer, basketball, let them explore. Let them hike. I emphasize a ton to my kids how important reading is and how much I encourage it. Especially their bible, man does it make a HUGE difference. What I have witnessed is, instead of investing in taking time off and doing work outs and cardio. Most players and parents instead just pay to have their kid to play all year long. It's pretty insane, I didn't start playing travel ball until I was 13 almost 14. The year around baseball quickly caught up to me and I injured my rotator cuff and missed my freshman year. I took the year off and focused on healing and rehab. Had an amazing following 3 years. If anyone hasn't read Nolan Ryans book on his pitching and baseball journey. I highly recommend it. Don't care about old school or new school. Great read. But, for God sake let your kids be kids. Let them enjoy their lives. We already have politicians trying to breath their BS into children that don't belong to them. Don't add to it.

Fun is no longer allowed, you must become a professional Tommy John speed runner.

i see the same thing in the ice rink i work at for hockey

I fear a similar situation is happening in hockey too. There is a surgery goalies will get to fix hip and groin issues and it’s slowly starting to turn into a when instead of an if. I think there was even a goalie for the canucks who got it preemptively. I hope hockey leagues can learn from what is happening in baseball and do something proactive for once.

And what most of these people dont even understand is that the person who was the first to have Tommy John Surgery, Tommy John Jr, has come out and said his son, Tommy John III's, rehab methods did more to heal his elbow issues than the surgery EVER did. Too bad no one even pays attention top important information like this.

LSU has a long standing tradition of grinding kids arms to win. What do you think happened to Ben McDonald?

Yeah I got surgery when I was 13. It was right after COVID and my arm decided to explode

I played baseball all year around growing up and by my sophomore year I quit I just got burnt out and didn’t love the game anymore 2017 I got back into watching MLB and now I love baseball game and teach my son now However I refuse to let him pitch I have arm problems and I don’t want him to go through that as well

I played a high level of travel ball growing up. I had 2 elbow surgeries in middle school and a rotator cuff surgery at 19, ending my college career.

Whatever happened to Greg Maddox type pitchers?

I hear Rob Dibble speak about this on his radio show a lot.

Different sports but in Jr cricket at least in Australia we have a over count per weekend that can't be expected for kids. Especially until about 18 you can't bowl more than 80 or so balls and that can be as low as 24 or so in U12's progressively getting slightly bigger with age. While we certainly still have injuries especially for fast bowlers comparatively it's much less and allows for most players to have long careers with minimal time on the sidelines.

If it’s separated by decades in the MLB, I’m curious how much money is being paid to mlb players while they are on the injured list for TJS.

BREWSTEW MENTIONED RAHHHH WTF IS A WELL ANIMATED VIDEO

Parent's take their children's careers so seriously that I as a college pitcher can't get into a facility for a half hour to throw when I'm home for winter break because 8 and 9 year old teams have the facility booked from open to close.

Great vid. Crazy how EVERYTHING is so competitive for kids nowadays. Seems no one does anything just for fun anymore. Not only baseball and sports in general, but music, art, anything and everything is a competition now. Kinda sad.

You should see the hockey culture in Canada. Parents screaming swear words at the refs and coaches. There are tons of abusive behaviour policies in place for parents and spectators because every parents thinks their kid is going to the NHL. It's pathetic

As someone who is about to have his first child, this really scares me. I want my kids to play sports, so I'll have to be extra vigilant against this competition creep in youth leagues.

The problem isn’t that kids throw too much it’s that they throw too little and pitch too much. They are being conditioned to pitch at near maximum effort for a prescribed number of pitches. Quite frankly, that’s a PERFECT recipe for injury. If a kid wants to be a pitcher, he needs to throw, throw, and throw some more. Build up strength and flexibility and forget velocity. A strong arm shortstop throws 80+ mph, and he can do it all day long, all summer. When a kid has strengthened his arm and developed his control he’s ready to learn better mechanics to use what he has to increase velocity comfortably, a little bit at a time. Each kid will top out, velocity-wise, where his gifts will take him. No kid under 17 should ever, ever throw a breaking pitch in competition. Little League can help on this front by just calling them balls no matter where they travel. Young kids should be working on speed and location control. Dr. Andrews is a huge part of the problem. If a young kid abuses his arm to the point of damage, Dr. Andrews will just repair him and send him back out to continue his bad behavior, so that he can perform the surgery again. He has produced a virtual factory providing himself and those he’s trained a limitless supply of customers. Without TJ surgery, Little League, Pony, Colt, HS, Colleges, even professional organizations would be forced to take much better care of pitchers’ arms. It’s now a crutch that props up the whole game.

Shoulder injuries are just as prevalent. Mainly labrum tears. For the most part though you hear about TJ because you can recover and keep playing after. Most of the time a labrum tear is a career ender. Kids need to be taught how to train properly and rest properly instead of constantly playing.

Surgery on kids…where have I heard that before 😅

Brewstewfilms and batman this is amazing quality italk.

Expand the roster to 40-man April 1st instead of September. Expand rotations to 8-10 pitchers. Encourage concentration on rpm, not velo. Yes this would involve a lot of negotiation and red tape. The Players Association wouldn't be too happy. Salaries wouldn't be as high, but injuries would drop. This triple digit madness is disgusting, and the rampant injuries fans of every team can expect is putting a strain on an already-wildly unpopular sport.

Well, there's reason. There's what, 10,000 pro pitchers. 100,000 college pitchers, and one million highschool pitchers. Of course there's way more highschool pitchers getting Tommy John surgery

150k soon 💪🏼

When I subscribed my elbow felt better

I would never encourage my kids to put pitch at any level.

Makes sense that it's an issue. It theoretically should be impossible to throw 100 over and over and over. But people do it.