Comments on: Why the Pirates Should Rush Jameson Taillon

By: Kevin Creagh

Kevin Creagh — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 12:50:57 +0000

The average career length for players is more due to their lack of performance, not everyone getting a major injury. And there is no major injury more studied and scrutinized than TJ surgery — there’s no need to study oblique injury or ACL injuries. The only other injury of note would be labrums for pitchers and those are still near-death sentences for effectiveness.

By: Kelby

Kelby — Sun, 14 Jun 2015 22:10:16 +0000

I would imagine that there would be similar statistics for any major injury. The average career of a major leaguer is around 4-5 years.

By: TSweeneyG7

TSweeneyG7 — Fri, 05 Jun 2015 21:17:11 +0000

Thanks, interesting.

Back to Taillon, I agree that the Pirates should rush him. 1) Because I don’t know how much more I can watch Jeff Locke pitch. 2) Because like you said, if he’s ready, don’t waste more wear and tear on his arm.

If he’s not ready, I hope they go after a guy like Scott Kazmir.

By: Steve DiMiceli

Steve DiMiceli — Fri, 05 Jun 2015 20:34:07 +0000

I’d suggest clicking on the two articles I included in the article. One is an abstract, but you can get the idea of that they’re trying to say. I didn’t expand a ton on either piece as I wanted it to come back around and be about Taillon.

If you’re interested, here’s a very cool graphic I found while digging around.

http://public.tableau.com/profile/matt.chambers#!/vizhome/UndertheKnife/TheeffectsofTommyJohnsurgery

By: TsweeneyG7

TsweeneyG7 — Fri, 05 Jun 2015 18:40:52 +0000

I’m just curious as to how much TJ effects the longevity of a player. We’ve also seen a lot of players who haven’t had the procedure just hit a wall – Verlander, Lincecum, ect. It’s a very intriguing study.

By: Steve DiMiceli

Steve DiMiceli — Fri, 05 Jun 2015 16:51:58 +0000

I thought about this a lot while I was writing the article and though I don’t have an exact number for you, I think the answer would be that non – TJ pitchers last longer. Looking at the research I did for the aging article, 114 pitchers reached age 35 in my sample, the vast majority of which were already in the league by the age of 25. Many of those pitchers were of the mediocre variety. Some were down right bad, yet they still managed to have long careers. I do think it’s worth noting that lousy pitchers that had TJ influence that range. So do those who were over the hill to begin with. However, there are many examples of good and great pitchers who just hit a wall after pitching very well.

By: TSweeneyG7

TSweeneyG7 — Fri, 05 Jun 2015 15:19:34 +0000

Very interesting points. I only have one question. You said that the average life of a pitcher after TJ is 2-7 years, but how does that compare to a regular Major League pitcher? I would have to imagine that the 2-7 statistic is heavily influenced by mediocre pitchers, even with the variance.