More young players getting Tommy John surgeries

Reasons vary, but some say kids are throwing too much

By Tony Schick

The Portland Tribune, Aug 9, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

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Eilers and Henderson both stayed local for their surgeries, however.

Eilers received his from Dr. Robert P. Sotta in December 2004. Next came eight months of physical therapy.

“I had to sit on the bench my entire junior season; I couldn’t throw a baseball for the whole year,” he says. “And I had to wear this mechanical arm brace that locked my arm in place so I looked like an idiot at school.”

For both players, the surgery hindered their development and prevented them from reaching their full potential.

“I was 16. That’s pretty young to get it,” Eilers says. “Having the surgery and missing out on my junior year was really critical. Sophomore year, I was the No. 1 starter.”

Eilers was a reliever for the Trojans in his senior year, after recovering from the surgery.

“I definitely got to the point where I could compete, and succeed,” he says, “but I don’t think I reached my full potential.”

Henderson had his surgery in 2006, on the last day of his sophomore year, from Dr. Gregory D. Gramstad at Rebound Orthopedics and Neurosurgery in Vancouver, Wash. He feels it has taken him until now to return to full strength.

“What people need to realize is how bad it can happen,” he says. “It took me two years until I was 100 percent.”

Henderson believes the injury hindered his future in baseball. He says he showed the most promise as a pitcher but was unable to do so after his freshman year.

“After freshman year, I had a lot of offers from D-I schools. Now I plan on going to a community college first, though,” he says. “I’d for sure have more options and bigger options if I hadn’t hurt my arm.”

What’s worse, he says, is that he knows it was preventable.

“I wish I would have monitored my arm,” he says. “It’s simply not worth having this kind of injury in high school; you ruin your arm for the future. Nothing you do in eighth grade is going to matter in the long run.”

Henderson did his rehab at the Rebound Orthopedic clinic in Portland. He says he was alarmed at the number of children he saw in physical therapy.

“There was one kid doing physical therapy who was 12, and it was his fourth time in. People just don’t realize the risk that can bring,” he says.

“Much is made of proper mechanics and coaching, and that’s overrated, to tell you the truth,” says Douglas Rosario, director of physical therapy at Rebound. “I’m not saying they’re not important, but they’re less important than complete overuse. The best mechanics in the world won’t prevent you from getting hurt if you overuse your arm.”

Rosario says he has worked with nearly 50 athletes rehabbing from UCL reconstruction and that in his experience, the athletes in need of Tommy John surgery are young. In all of the patients he can remember, every one has been under 25. And he says it is because of overthrowing.

“The subject is near and dear to my heart after I saw so many kids getting injured when it was preventable,” Rosario says. “There is no reason a 10-year-old should complain of a sore arm.”

When Rosario lived in California, he became the president of a local Little League solely to protect young arms and implement one rule: no curveballs until the age of 16.

Rosario believes that the expectations surrounding youth baseball are causing children to ruin their arms.

“Ten- and 12-year-old kids are playing year-round, more than 60 games a year, and that’s just stupid,” Rosario says. “With developing kids, throwing as much as they are, they’re going to get injured. You show me a kid who is throwing in the Little League World Series and I’ll show you a kid who isn’t pitching in high school.”

The experiences of Eilers and Henderson, and the claims of Rosario, go along with Cain’s argument that the rise of injuries can be related to year-round leagues and kids throwing specialty pitches because of more pressure to compete.

“Kids should be urged to rest and be careful about saving their arms, rather than leading to long-term problems at a young age,” he says. “This should be a wake-up call to parents and coaches that specialization in baseball where kids don't get adequate time off is very dangerous.”

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