Baseball: Looking for an explanation for growing number of arm surgeries
Harvard-Westlake pitchers will attract lots of scouts
Max Fried and Lucas Giolito were teammates at Harvard-Westlake in 2012. Each was a first-round draft pick. Now they’re going to have another thing in common: Tommy John surgery, otherwise known as elbow reconstruction surgery.
Giolito, a right-hander, had his in 2012. Fried, a left-hander, will have his next week.
It’s truly baffling what’s transpiring. Giolito didn’t throw a lot of innings in high school, though he did throw hard. Fried took plenty of breaks because he was a two-sport athlete until his senior year.
Asked to comment on the growing number of pitchers requiring Tommy John surgery, Harvard-Westlake Coach Matt LaCour said, “This is a baseball issue. Everybody has said, ‘Kids are not taking time off.’ Well, Max took time off. Until I hear somebody give me a logicial explanation, I’m willing to listen.
“It seems like guys who throw hard at an early age are having an issue. You sit down six educated baseball people, you can get six different explanations why this is happening.”
The good news is that Giolito is now healthy and one of the top prospects in the Washington Nationals organization. Fried can have the same outcome.
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