Hopefully he'll bounce back but guys like he, Mark Pryor and Kerry Wood who have that "whipping" throwing motion are prone to elbow issues. Oddly enough, that was my first thought when I saw him throw...he might have elbow problems some day.
He will miss the entire 2011 season for sure. Maybe late 2012 or spring training 2013 before he feels really comfortable again throwing the ball with power and speed.
Sucks but this stuff happens to hard throwers frequently because of pressure and wear on the ligaments.
Good news is, he is still young and compared to two decades ago, TJ is fairly routine today. Unless the Nationals are contending for a pennant they should not rush him back but rather ease him.
Look what happened to Liriano. He missed all of 2007 after getting hurt in late 2006. He was all over the place in 2008, went down to AAA and came back to help the Twins late. Last year he was horrible again before finally figuring things out this year.
After Tommy John, you can't go back to being the same power pitcher. You have to pitch smarter with less power to put less strain on the ligaments.
Hopefully he'll bounce back but guys like he, Mark Pryor and Kerry Wood who have that "whipping" throwing motion are prone to elbow issues. Oddly enough, that was my first thought when I saw him throw...he might have elbow problems some day.
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