Masahiro Tanaka is expected to miss at least a month of action after an MRI revealed a right forearm strain and tendinitis in his wrist. Some have said the New York Yankees should just have Tanaka undergo Tommy John surgery and get it over with, but many fail to realize the procedure is not the only solution.
ESPN's Stephania Bell penned an article in April titled, "What we've missed about Tommy John surgery," which documented revealing truths about how the operation isn't always successful. In fact, Bell said three myths (among other rumors) are omnipresent throughout baseball thanks to some pitchers who have experienced healthy and prosperous careers following Tommy John surgery. They include:
"Everyone has a successful outcome."
"The surgery improves performance."
"Young players should proactively seek Tommy John surgery to 'prevent' a future problem and 'enhance' performance."
Bell goes on to provide professional medical opinions and statistics regarding the procedure to support her case, but we won't get into that. Click the link above to check it out for yourself.
The bottom line is, Tanaka does not need to undergo Tommy John surgery right now because doctors, who happen to know more about surgeries than anybody else, are saying the Japanese pitcher does not require it at this time. The 26-year-old decided to rehab the partial UCL tear he suffered last July after seeking numerous medical opinions, all of which did not urge the surgical procedure as his primary option for recovery.
Similarly, Tampa Bay Rays starter Alex Cobb was found to have suffered a partial tear of his UCL on Tuesday and it was reported he plans to pitch through the injury. Rays' president of baseball operations Matt Silverman said it was "premature" to discuss surgery as an option at this point.
"We're continuing to do the evaluation to figure out what the next steps are," Silverman told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. "At this point, Alex is focused on getting back on the mound and pitching this season for the Rays, but there is no timetable yet."
ESPN Insider Buster Olney agrees with the decisions of Tanaka and Cobb in the latest Baseball Tonight Podcast.
"I think if doctors are telling you you can possibly function, than this is the route pitchers should take," he said. "I know that Tanaka has had a setback with his wrist, and eventually he probably will need Tommy John surgery, but after reading and hearing from Stephania Bell about the potential rates of failures in some of these surgeries, or setbacks, reoccurrences, I absolutely think this is the right decision by Alex Cobb to try and make this work."
"I agree," added ESPN Insider Tim Kurkjian. "It just seems to me we're jumping to Tommy John or major surgery a little too early and I think the lesson to be learned is there are no guarantees when you have it. People think, 'Oh I've had Tommy John, I'm good for the rest of my career.' No you're not. And if you get Tommy John you're guaranteed to be out for a year. Why would you want to take that chance if there's a chance to avoid surgery?"
Kevin Kernan of the New York Post wrote an article last week titled "Why Tanaka needs Tommy John surgery."
"It's time to change game plans. This is not working," he boldly claimed about Tanaka's rehab process.
"He needs to have Tommy John surgery to have any chance of getting back to being the kind of pitcher the Yankees thought they were getting when they shelled out $175 million."
Many were alarmed the Yankees' starter would experience a dip in his velocity and that he wouldn't return to his usual self, but that simply hasn't been the case. FOX Sports' CJ Nitkowski broke down FanGraphs' Pitch F/X of Tanaka after his Opening Day start and the stats revealed nothing notable in terms of a change in velocity. Here are the tables he posted in his article:
2014 numbers:
Pitch | Total Pitches | Avg. Velo | Max Velo |
4FB | 501 | 91.1 | 95.6 |
2FB | 450 | 90.3 | 94.7 |
Numbers from Opening Day:
Pitch | Total Pitches | Avg. Velo | Max Velo |
4FB | 5 | 92.5 | 94.5 |
2FB | 22 | 91.1 | 92.6 |
So as you can see, Tommy John surgery is not always the go-to move. Sure, it might be essential if a tear is significant enough or if further elbow problems continue to persist (which we will wait and see with Tanaka), but just because there is damage to a pitcher's UCL does not mean going under the knife is the only option.
It's likely we see more pitchers opt for rehab if doctors don't suggest surgery as the primary option. Tanaka and Cobb could be the pioneers of this trend.
