Would a pitcher ever consider getting elective Tommy John surgery, just hoping to get that fastball?
FJ: It wouldn’t help if you didn’t have it before. All the surgery does is get you back to your normal elbow. You either have the stuff or you don’t. A player that reaches the majors, he’s spent years in the minors improving, making his mechanics better, with his muscles getting stronger. One thing we did see though, after we did this on Tommy. A person who’s a pitcher might come in, someone who’s not in the majors. And we’ll ask him: Do you really want to be a pitcher? Is this your life’s goal? Because it’s going to take at least a year of your life to get back. ” When they’re 18, the bones are softer, the cartilage is softer, they should definitely be limited. Once they’re 21 or so, they’re more fully developed. When they’re younger, they can’t tolerate quite the same trauma. ” — Dr. Frank Jobe Tom Candiotti came in many years ago — he was about an A-ball pitcher then. And I said to him: Are you really going to be a pitcher? Do you think you’re a prospect? And he said to me, yes I’m
