Excuse my ignorance, did we always have pitcher injuries in the 90s and early 2000s?

Good question, but get ready for the onslaught by the sunshine pumpers.

Crazy travel ball dad era where little Braxtyn is throwing 100 pitches every weekend starting at age 10 and doing lessons on top of it. Chad Ogea probably played football, basketball, and baseball in middle and high school and was built like a brick shithouse, these kids today are worn down by college, pushing their bodies to the limit in terms of velocity, and they aren’t particularly muscular or durable because all they’ve ever done athletically is throw a baseball. Gonna have more injuries with that combo

Well said. Can confirm from a buddy high up with marucci, coaches anywhere from early youth to high school kids who go D-1. Says same thing, its only way to keep up with velocity, feel like you aren't falling behind.

He tries to get kids to stick with other sports since he did the same, but it's tough when so much time is asked to just be at baseball. He played basketball, football, soccer, and baseball, and was one of the better athletes in the city. Same goes for me... just doesn't seem you see it as much, with each sport getting so specialized in its training.

I don't think so but I think the college pitching game has changed with much more talent filtering through the college ranks now. So I suspect guys trying to add pitches and throw pump up their velocity to get noticed by the MLB end up with more of the types of injuries you see. That is just a guess on my part.

Arms def being ruined before they get here by being only baseball players and your coaches running stars into the ground.

Wes has had arm issues at every stop though so I’m not sure he is helping the problem.

When you talk about long-lived workhorses like Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson, I'd bet they did not pitch their arm out of socket as kids. You really need to be 18/19/20 years old before you start throwing THAT much.

Skenes wasn't even a full time pitcher at all until this year and look at him now. He's a tank, and is built like a well rounded athlete. He could probably play any position in the field decently, or any other sport for that matter at a pretty high level.

quote:

---

Kids are doing waaay to much starting at 10-12 years old and by the time they are in college, arm is hanging on by a thread.

---

You are correct except that it starts before 10. Kid pitch starts at 9. Lots of kids play up especially in summer leagues. I know 8 years that were playing 'up' to kid pitch summer leagues so they would be ready for the following spring.

I don't blame the LSU staff for the injuries. The correlation of injuries here exists b/c LSU recruits top kids. These days, the top recruits are coming from a life of travel ball. Many travel ball teams are playing 60 games in a spring season as young as 7 years old. It's absolutely nuts.

quote:

---

Wes has had arm issues at every stop though so I’m not sure he is helping the problem.

---

I don’t know where this myth has come from. But it’s retarded.

I'm pretty sure Brett Laxton was injured for awhile.

I appreciate this thread because I never played baseball and I never had kids. I did not understand how many kids today play travel ball and how competitive parents are with their kids playing baseball. Maybe, it has always been that way, I just did not fully grasp it.