Fragile, Handle with Care

We were deep into our Saturday night routine of watching Father Brown and Death in Paradise when Clare texted that Lance Lynn of the White Sox left his start against the Diamondbacks with leg discomfort, this after throwing 79 pitches. Oh-oh. It seems to be raining pitching injuries, and has been for some time. The Sox traded for Lucas Giolito after he had Tommy John surgery. Giolito came with Dane Dunning, who subsequently had the procedure, too. Carlos Rodon had it, along with Michael Kopech. Dylan Cease arrived from the North Side after having his right elbow operated on. We ship Codi Heuer to the North Side last summer, and he went under the scalpel last month. Oh, and Chris Sale had Tommy John back in 2020. Clare asked if Tommy John threw like the pitchers above, and I said, No, he was more a “pitch to contact” guy. I’d go so far as to say the surgery started off as a way to prolong a veteran’s career; consider that John had already pitched ten full seasons before he underwent the operation he lent his name to. Conversely, Giolito; Dunning; Rodon; Kopech; and Cease were all youngster when they had it. Blame it on baseball’s infatuation with throwing hard; Tommy John surgery exists as a kind of insurance policy against injury. Only there’s no guarantee a power pitcher will come back just as strong; ask Zach Burdi. You’d think all these operations would give a pitching coach pause, but No. It’s damn’ the torpedoes (and scalpels), full speed ahead. Speaking of Lance Lynn, he’s one of the lucky ones, somebody who can throw hard and avoid elbow problems. Only that seems to have gone to his head by way of his stomach. Lynn could do a passable imitation of Wilbur Wood with a beard. Too bad carrying all that extra weight (270 pounds on a 6’5”frame) can cause knee problems. Too bad there aren’t any more Wilbur Woods out there.