The Athletics have shut down top pitching prospect A.J. Puk with biceps soreness, according to a report from Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. At this point, the severity of the injury is not fully known, though indications are that the exciting young lefty will be able to return to the hill before too long.
Needless to say, any issues in that region of such a valuable arm are going to be dealt with quite cautiously. Per the report, Puk has already undergone an MRI that did not give cause for concern that there is “any major structural damage.” Still, biceps soreness is a symptom associated with potentially serious elbow issues and the club will want to be certain that the current problem is not exacerbated.
Puk was taken with the sixth overall selection in the 2016 draft and turned in a solid, 125-inning effort in 2017. Splitting his time between High-A and Double-A in his first full season as a professional, the 22-year-old ran up a 4.03 ERA with 13.2 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9.
Oakland had already determined that the high-powered southpaw would not crack the roster out of camp. But A’s fans were already no doubt looking forward to his arrival sooner than later after watching him spin over nine scoreless Cactus League innings this spring before he was finally touched in his last frame. There’s no particular reason to believe that Puk’s ultimate ascension will be slowed significantly, though perhaps now the Oakland organization will handle him with added care early in the 2018 season.
Tendinitis
Aw, Puk
As in: “Aw, that sucks”
Get better bud! Jeez tough crowd.
Ah Puk them! Keep up the good puns.
Is this thing on??
When is mlb gonna realize they need to raise the mounds and put lets strain and damage on pitchers elbows.
Or helmets for pitchers, to prevent potential deaths?
Brandon McCarthy, and Aroldis Chapman got lucky.
Is a death what it’s gonna take for the rule change?
maybe. look how long it take for them to extend the netting at ballparks.
I’m pretty sure they are looking into something like that. Some of the ballcaps are like a hard hat almost, where they don’t bend like regular ones. Or they have the option to do what Carlos Torres did, and where the padding on the outside
Might as well put all players in helmets and pads, to prevent potential deaths.
As a former pitcher, I always felt more stress from higher mounds. Might just be me though.
This. Raising the mound just creates an even more unnatural throwing motion, and encourages the infamous “inverted W”. The real culprit behind the increase in elbow and shoulder injuries is just increased velocity, and that in turn is the result of hitters’ bat speed going through the roof with better weight training and conditioning.
Raising the mound would destroy arms. There have been many studies that show the higher the mound the more shear force and torque on the throwing shoulder. Also, higher mounds make deliveries harder to repeat because of front foot strike and timing.
Here’s an example:
link to sciencedaily.com