We crave speed. It's one of the greatest allures in the game, especially when it comes in the form of a fireballing young pitcher.
It's also a risky commodity.
The devastating news that Miami Marlins ace Jose Fernandez likely will require Tommy John elbow surgery hammered that point home yet again, as if we needed a reminder.
The Marlins team doctor recommended season-ending surgery Tuesday night. Fernandez wants to discuss his options with his family.
Since the beginning of spring training, Fernandez will be the 18th pitcher on a major league roster to need elbow reconstruction because of a tear in the ulnar collateral ligament, already surpassing the average from 2000-11 (15.8) and nearly equaling last season's total of 19.
Moreover, Fernandez will become the third pitcher among the top seven hardest-throwing starters from last season (minimum 100 innings) to undergo the procedure. From that group, Matt Harvey had the operation last year and Stephen Strasburg in September 2010.
Other pitchers with fastballs in the 100 mph range, such as Matt Moore, Neftali Feliz, Bruce Rondon and Jordan Zimmerman, also needed Tommy John surgery in recent years.
That's not exactly a coincidence, according to Glenn Fleisig, research director at the American Sports Medicine Institute in Birmingham, Ala., and an expert on the biomechanics of pitching.
Fleisig believes advancements in training and nutrition have helped more pitchers reach their maximum capacity, resulting in more of them propelling fastballs above 95 mph. That comes at the expense of ligaments and tendons, which don't get the same benefit from training as much as muscles do, so eventually they overload and break down.
"If we told everyone, 'No one is allowed to throw over 92 mph,' or something like that, we'd have a lot of people topping out at 92 mph and we'd have very few injuries,'' Fleisig said.
"The problem is, if we give people proper mechanics and proper conditioning, who in their right mind is going to say, 'I want to stop at this velocity'? Due to the competitive nature, everyone wants to get more velocity, which is a good objective, but the ligaments and tendons can't handle it.''
Simply put, with increased speed comes increased risk.
And velocity has never been more in vogue than these days, when staffs packed with power pitchers are shrinking offensive numbers to levels not seen in more than four decades. The average fastball in the majors has risen from under 90 mph in 2002, the first year when reliable data were available, to a high of 91.7 mph last season.
During much of that time, the number of elbow reconstructions remained fairly steady, except for a spike to 36 in 2012. Now the ranks are swelling again, and apparently it's not only the stress of throwing hard that's causing damage, but also the effort of pretending to.
Noted surgeon James Andrews, who operated on Moore, Harvey and a host of others, said in recent years more pitchers have reported to him they hurt their elbow throwing a hard changeup, some 8-9 mph slower than their fastball.
"They're manipulating their forearms to put a little extra on it,'' Andrews said. "That has definitely been a new risk factor over the last 2-3 years.''
The vast majority of elbow-ligament injuries, however, are the result of wear and tear. The difficulty comes in figuring out at what stage in pitchers' careers they're happening, and what to do to prevent them.
The Marlins shut down Fernandez after his Sept. 11 start last season to avoid overtaxing him as a rookie. The Washington Nationals were extra cautious in bringing Strasburg up the ranks. The Tampa Bay Rays are renowned for their careful handling of pitchers such as Moore. None of that spared them from the surgeon's scalpel.
"It's not as simple as more throws is bad and less throws is good,'' Fleisig said. "Because if you don't pitch enough, not only do you not get the ERA and the records to move up and develop your skills, but your muscles and, to a lesser extent, your tendons and ligaments haven't strengthened.''
Fleisig and Andrews report that pitchers at all levels are sustaining ligament damage at a younger age – often in the 12-15-year-old range – and they advise against year-round baseball, at least for pitchers.
They conducted a 10-year study that showed teenagers who pitch more than 100 innings in a calendar year are three times more likely to have surgery by age 20 than those who don't.
On the other hand, those teenage pitchers who participate in tournaments and travel ball regularly tend to be the ones who draw attention from pro scouts and college baseball programs.
"You want the player to show up where he's done enough to develop his trade and his strength and stamina, but not so much that he has permanent microscopic tears as a starting point when he shows up,'' Fleisig said. "Did he develop these permanent microscopic tears in the minor leagues or in high school or college? It could be anywhere.''
It's probably impossible to tell when Fernandez – who was born in Cuba, defected to the U.S. at 15 and became a first-round pick of the Marlins as a high schooler in Tampa – sustained the damage.
What's clear is the loss of the 21-year-old superstar, last season's NL rookie of the year, leaves a huge void both for the upstart Marlins and baseball in general.
Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, typically not a fan of watching pitchers on other teams, makes an exception for Fernandez.
"If I had to pick one guy to watch pitch and what he brings to the game every single day, it would be Jose,'' said Tulowitzki, who's 1-for-9 with six strikeouts vs. Fernandez. "He competes out there as well as anybody does. The stuff is obviously electric. To see him possibly have to miss the year is disappointing. You feel for the guy.''
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