UPDATE: Saint Thomas Aquinas senior Riley Pint was selected No. 4 overall in the MLB Draft by the Colorado Rockies.
ORIGINAL STORY:
Riley Pint throws serious heat. But more impressive than his arm is his current draft stock.
The 18-year-old prep star throws 100 miles per hour. He also won his second championship for St. Thomas Aquinas and is likely a top-10 pick in Thursday’s MLB Draft.
"I throw a two-seam and four-seam fastball, a circle change, knuckle curve and a traditional curve," he said.
There are only a handful of pitchers in the world who can clock in at 100 mph-plus. Add the young star’s impressive pitch repertoire, and there is a team of trainers, coaches and scouts monitoring Pint’s every move.
In fact, Pint didn’t start an every day training regimen until this year and wasn’t allowed to throw a curve ball until this season. He’s also never thrown more than 100 innings in a calendar year.
“Pitch count is usually always either at 100 or below 100,” said Pint.
The reason for the all the caution? Tommy John surgery.
According to Major League Baseball, the surgery has roughly doubled among players over the last three years as more pitchers require the repair of their ulnar collateral ligament in their elbow.
Many attribute the rise in surgeries to overuse.
"I think under preparation is just as big as a culprit as overuse," said Bob Zimmerman, Pint’s trainer at Premiere Baseball KC.
Zimmerman, also a former pro pitcher, says many injuries occur because kids learn to throw breaking pitches incorrectly. But just as important as keeping an arm healthy is having enough rest.
The trainer is vigilant in every aspect of Pint’s arm health.
“Make sure he’s warming up properly, cooling down properly, and monitoring how we’re doing our throwing,” said Zimmerman.
Pint has never experienced any alarming arm discomfort and feels that because of his training, he won’t become part of the 25 percent of Major Leaguers to undergo Tommy John.
"I feel that people who never took a break, never gave their arm time to heal or anything have Tommy John. Just always stick to the plan and never deviate from that plan," Pint said.
Pint could become the first Kansas prep pitcher to be drafted in the first round since Brian Holman out of Wichita in 1983.
Facts from Major League Baseball (Information provided by the American Sports Medicine Institute):
- Players who pitched more than 100 innings in a year were 3.5 times more likely to be injured.
- Those who compete more than 8 months a year were 5 times more likely to suffer an injury requiring surgery.
- Adolescent pitchers who undergo elbow or shoulder surgery are 36 times more likely to have routinely pitched with arm fatigue.
MLB PITCH SMART - Recommendations and Risk Factors For Youth
- Monitor pitch counts (click here to see pitch count guidelines).
- No pitching on consecutive days.
- Pitchers should refrain from throwing for at least 2-3 months per year.
- A pitcher should not also be a catcher for his team as it is the next most throwing-intensive position and results in far more throws than players at other positions.
- Players who participate on multiple teams at the same time are at an increased risk of injury as it makes it more difficult to monitor pitch limits and results in reduced rest.
- Players should be cautious about returning to play after any injury. A sprained ankle or oblique strain can imperceptibly affect the player's biomechanics, changing the way he throws and putting more stress on his arm.
- While existing research has not consistently shown a strong connection between the curveball and injuries, Yang et al., found that amateur pitchers who threw curveballs were 1.6 times more likely to experience arm pain while pitching and Lyman et al, found that youth pitchers who throw sliders are 86% more likely to experience elbow pain than those who do not (Lyman et al., 2002).
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Josh Helmuth can be reached at josh.helmuth@kshb.com
