Not to mention max effort and spin rate from childhood is putting years of stress on arms before they are even pros.
Bingo. The proverbial chickens are coming home to roost. Any coach or parent who lets a kid throw a breaking ball before they're 16 or so should be tried for child abuse. 16 may even be too early. Fastball, cut fastball, changeup. That's it.
Sure. Had a teammate in HS who played around with one...and he was LH which made it even weirder. I think it was the 2nd or 3rd he threw to me in the cage is when I said..."**** that" Thing about the 3 pitches I mentioned is that they're all basically the same grip, same arm and body motion, same followthru, etc...you're not trying to snap your wrist or torque your arm make the ball spin. Also, to throw a proper curve, your hand/fingers need to be grown up, not kiddie sized As a kid, once you master throwing strikes consistently with a basic FB, then you can add those other 2 wrinkles.
This late in the season likely means he's out all of next year too. If non-tendered he'll have to rehab on his own and audition for teams in the Spring of 2026.
I hope the Astros offer him a 2yr/ $6M deal. TJS is very very likely to return equivalent to pre surgery form. That gives him the security of having an MLB deal his season back along with all rehab covered. The Astros get a solid 5th/6th starter for 2026 at below FA market prices and, if he comes back after 14-15 months, the same for 2025 playoff run. Just for the insurance it's worth it. Not to mention keeping a great teammate in the organization 2 more years.
Its his 2nd TJ surgery however... and he previously had problems with his shoulder. Sure, that sort of contract is a drop in the bucket compared to counting on completely unknowns from the minors... but his recovery/rehab won't be "standard" compared to guys with only one TJ surgery.
Does anyone know the difference between recovery/return from a first TJS and a second TJS? Seems like I remember reading about it but can not recall how bad it was.
First, baseball coaches in LL, middle school, travel teams and high school as a group know almost nothing about pitching. I will also dare say that there are a quite a few pitching coaches in D3 and D2 and bottom D1 that only know what worked for them when they were in college. Ask one of those marginal college pitching coaches about arm care will result in "ice it down after the game" FTW. Having said the above, there are a few gems out there. My son and I stumbled on one in HS. He showed my son how to throw a curve without snapping the wrist. Instead of snapping the wrist at the end, you "preset" the snap while the ball is still in the glove. Batters will know it is coming, what good that will do them. Even though HS pitching coach are pretty damn ignorant, they will teach the grip and call for curves in game ... which as @Buck Turgidson is saying is child abuse.
Then what's the purpose of doing that if you'll just have to learn how to throw it properly years later? Waste of time that could be spent mastering throwing strikes where you want them to be.
The main reason HS pitcher throw curves is that HS hitters can not hit them, unless they are hung. HS baseball coaches likely do not teach the curve properly, but show no reluctance in asking their pitchers to throw it. Using a simpler curve (think about working a curveball from release point back to behind the back, where the pitcher has the wrist already in the snapped position) is a working curve that should not hang but also should not have the best break. If a HS pitcher is lucky enough to pitch in college (aka years later), they can sort it out there.
lol yeah you kinda have to start working on it in high school. You can throw a slider which is less stress than the curve. Plus college scouts want to see it unless a you’re blessed to be throwing mid 90’s then they’ll take a chance regardless of your off speed. but little league, fastball and changeup will do the trick. he’s also talking about throwing a cut fastball in little league. That pitch legit doesn’t work until you’re throwing upper 80’s. It just kinda spins below that.
