2012 MLB Regular Season Running Thread

Giancarlo Stanton needs knee surgery. Out at least 4-6 weeks:

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120707&content_id=34657962&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb

Good thing the Marlins got Carlos Lee.

 

And your Pittsburgh pirates have assured themselves at least a first place tie at the break. Nice little milestone for this franchise, although it means nothing in the grand scheme of things. I've always been a believer in teams have to relearn how to win, though, and how to maintain that, so this will go some way with that.

 

This is two years in a row Pittsburgh has been there. Barring a total collapse... like last year... I think this is the year the Pirates finally break through to the above .500 mark. That will build a lot of goodwill among the city's fans.

 

And you know who's replacing Stanton.

http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/story/_/id/8139068/miami-marlins-giancarlo-stanton-needs-knee-surgery-bryce-harper-all-star-game-replacement

 

I think I know who you're talking about. If so, yeah, he signed right after the CWS but was so worn out they didn't use him until August in High-A. Don't think he ever got higher than Double-A. That overuse played a role, but in talking to his high school coach, the organization could never settle on one approach with him.

 

Yea. Last year did that to be honest. A ton of sellouts and big midweek crowds. Same thing this year. Pittsburgh has always been a pretty good mid-tier baseball town. Not quite saint Louis, but not as bad as Atlanta. Fans have just been dormant until last year. Now they are showing up in drives. Sellouts every weekend series. It's fun to see and a great ballpark atmosphere when you are there.

 

Pittsburgh fans should be proud. PNC Park is one of the best parks in baseball and a great place to watch a game. Been there several times and had a ball each time.

Whatever the Pirates do, just hope Jerry Meals isn't scheduled to call one of their series this season. (Winks)

 

A) He's not the first player to ever have Tommy John surgery. We're probably in the thousands on that one now; and, 2) At what age can we expect baseball players to start playing whole seasons? Seems to me that 23 is a prime time for physical prowess. In some sports, you're washed up by that point. He's 23, not some 11-year-old in Little League who we're telling he shouldn't throw the curveball.

 

In which sports are athletes considered washed up at age 23?

 

It's not just his age. It's the fact that he's maxed out at ~110 pro innings. If he gets to 160 incident-free and they do something similar next year, then I'll agree they've gone too far.

 

Gymnastics?

Which seems to have little to do with baseball. NBA players can contribute at age 18. A lineman in football would get killed in the NFL at age 18. It's not a fair fight to start importing the career trajectory of other, outlier sports and project it onto Strasburg.

When I have time to actually dig into some real research and not just occasionally check in throughout the day and talk out of my ass along with everyone else, I want to find some hard data on Tommy John recovery time. Because that's how we advance this debate at this point. Not by talking about how washed up Shannon Miller was by the time she was 23.

Another pitcher that will be an interesting case this year: Jake Peavy. He's third in the American League in innings right now and has been pitching lights out. I'm sure that neither the White Sox nor Peavy himself give much of a hoot about his long-term future. At his age and under his deal, he's pitching for the here and now, and he assumes the risk. But do you start trying to limit him some to preserve him for September and October? And what role does the possibility of having to shut down Chris Sale late in the year play in the way you handle Peavy?

Or do you just ride Peavy until he breaks? Unlike Strasburg, there is absolutely no data on Peavy's unique procedure, though it took two years for him to get back to this point.

 

9 - 12 months? 12 - 18 months?

Still varies by individual, and still varies by how we're defining "recovery."

sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/will_carroll/03/09/tommy-john-surgery/index.html