Quote Originally Posted by ksushi;287642;
Idiocy? I don't think so. His velocity was up as high as 96 in april when he was in A ball. He got shelved for a couple weeks because of forearm cramps - usually a warning sign that TJ is on the way, case after case of "forearm cramping" is followed up months later by TJ - when he got back on the hill his velocity went from 91 - 94 to 88 - 91 with the occasional flash of 93ish. That isn't a good sign, and to say its idiocy to speculate about a guys arm when his velocity crashes like that isn't a little careless on your part, I think.

Yeah, he had cancer, and I'm sure that had a lot to do with his diminished stuff late last year. He looked very good and was just coming around when all that happened and I was just as heart-wrenched as anyone.

But he came back to ST in pretty good shape. Gained his weight back well, and his velocity was lagging early in ST, but then it all seemed to be coming back. He was dominating in AAA, and with good velocity. Look at the numbers, his first handful of AAA starts were fantastic, then he got shelved and was barely average against minor leaguers and his velocity fell off the table.

That isn't reason to speculate about a guys arm health?

Sorry, I guess I'm stupid then.
You guys panned me for this theory when he first went down. A typical pain pattern of a torn UCL is pain in the forearm. As the ligament gets lax, the tendons of the forearm have increased stress on every pitch and it predisposed to cramping. Once the cramping goes down, the muscles tighten and the elbow can then start hurting. Hell, we have 2 examples this yr in Pavano and Donnelly. It started with forearm cramping and now both have those long scars on their elbows.