Coping With Tommy John

Coping With Tommy John:

Jeff Stoddard & Mike Lembo
In todays baseball age, it has
become very common for players to get
Tommy John surgeries. Many have heard
of it very often but many do not know
about it entirely. When we throw
overhand, it puts what's called valgus
stress on the arm, which is a fancy way of
saying the elbow is trying to bend in an
unnatural direction. When someone
throws a baseball at around 90 mph, so
much valgus stress is created that the
forearm essentially wants to detach from
the body. Luckily, a 2-inch ligament in
the elbow holds two bones together and
keeps the forearm in place making it a
pretty important screw.
Jeff Stoddard
Mike Lembo
This ligament is called the ulnar
collateral ligament (UCL). A ligament is
not muscle; it can't be strengthened
Tommy John surgery because Dr. Frank Jobe first
through exercise as well as muscle can be. It is
performed it in 1974 on Tommy John, a pitcher
also not bone, which will adapt to the stress
for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Since then, Tommy
placed upon it. Ligament is just fibrous tissue, and
John surgeries have become widespread as
an elite pitcher's ligaments are pretty much the
pitchers fall to elbow pain at a record pace. In the
same as your average person: There is little he can
past year alone, Major Leaguers such as Yu
do to make his better.
Darvish, Zack Wheeler and Joe Nathan all
Tommy John surgery is a medical
received Tommy John surgery. They are only
procedure that reconstructs a damaged UCL
three of the long list of 25 big leaguers to go
ligament. A tendon from elsewhere in the body is
under the knife in 2015. Historically, 15-20 Major
used to repair a torn or ruptured UCL. It is called
League pitchers have undergone Tommy John
surgery per year but over the past three years that
number has increased to 25-30. A 2012-2013
survey of active players found that 25% of Major
League pitchers and 15% of Minor League
pitchers had undergone Tommy John surgery at
some point in their careers.
Unfortunately, for our Sacred Heart
Pioneers, last year two pitchers fell victim to UCL
damage. Senior captain and ace starting pitcher,
Jeff Stoddard, and junior relief pitcher, Mike
Lembo had their seasons shorten due to Tommy
John Surgery. Both, Stoddard and Lembo, would
have been crucial to the Pioneers success.
Stoddard would have been the game 1 starter of
any given series and Lembo would have been a
go-to guy out of the bullpen.

Coping With Tommy John

My entire life up until this past spring I

to rehab, but with time constraints Stoddard, of
never experienced elbow pain. So when I
course, doesn't have that luxury with a college
originally injured it, I didn't know what to think,
season.
said Jeff Stoddard. He began feeling discomfort in
Originally, for him, rehab was just
his arm early on in the season but just thought of
forearm and wrist exercises. It is a slow
it to be early season blues. He expected to be
progression, for example, the first day I was
back to normal in no time. After starting at
allowed to do bicep curls, but I was limited to 1Washington State, I remember I couldn't even
pounders. Lets just say there was no gun
extend my arm or hold a phone to my ear but that
show. But the majority of rehab is focused on
pain faded and I became confident I would be
stretching since loose muscles and tendons are
fine, Stated Stoddard. However, that was not the
less likely to be damaged, Said Stoddard. He
case as he began to experience pain in his next
even described that probably 90% of his time is
two starts only being able to get by with an
devoted to strengthening his shoulder, as many
ample amount of Aleeve, Tiger Balm, and
people rehabbing from Tommy John suffer from
consistently wrapping his arm around a heating
shoulder issues. The process will, of course,
pad.
continue moving forward,
It was in his third
as he, in October, has made
start of the season, against
advances to med balls and
I remember making one
the University of
upper body work in the
distinct pitch that went
Connecticut on March 11th
weight room - with
2015, where it went all
behind the batter and I had a supervision.
downhill for him. Stoddard
It was not until July 27th,
radiating pain through my
recalls, I remember
a little over four months
making one distinct pitch
after surgery, when he was
outside fingers and I could
that went behind the batter
able to start throwing a
feel the fluid rushing into
and I had a radiating pain
baseball. Since then, he has
through my outside fingers
been on a strict regular
that region.
and I could feel the fluid
throwing program that
- Jeff Stoddard
rushing into that region.
consists of throwing on and
After being removed from
off of a mound at increased
the game, Sacred Heart
distances.
athletic trainers suspected that he had torn his
As for Lembo, his story is a little
UCL, but the question was; how bad was it? He
different yet very similar. He first felt discomfort
then went and got an MRI and after about a week
on March 14th against Fordham University - only
when the MRI process was done, he then sat with
a couple days after Stoddard experienced his pain.
an Orthopedic Surgeon. This was when he learned
This did not seem to be very promising for the
he had a 3rd degree sprain (full tear) of his UCL.
pioneers as it seemed that they would lose yet
Not only did he fully tear his UCL but he also had
another pitcher who would be relied on
a tear of the pronator flexor muscle grouping in
throughout the year. Lembo recalls, I threw a
his forearm!
slider incorrectly and I felt a sharp pain in my
The only prognosis was to get Tommy
forearm. I knew the pain was not normal and I
John surgery and he did a couple days later on
immediately wanted to come out of the game. I
March 23rd ultimately ending his 2015
had a similar injury in high school and knew that
season. Stoddard recalls, I had no mobility the
continuing to pitch through it would not be very
week after surgery as I was restrained to a
good for my arm health. This proved to be very
cast. After the initial week, I got moved into a
much the case for Lembo as he was very correct
hinged brace, which enabled me to gain 10
in his judgments.
degrees of reach a week. The worst part of the
At first, Sacred Heart trainers did not
first 6 weeks after surgery was showering; it was
believe his UCL was torn and they believed he
such a process.
hurt something else. They actually even spent a
The doctors told Stoddard that he would
couple weeks rehabbing for a different forearm
have to go through at 12-month rehab, meaning
injury. It was then when Lembo requested for an
he would not be 100% until mid-march 2016.
MRI, instead of the trainers, as he wanted to know
Most major leaguers get the comfort of 16 months
immediately if there was a serious problem,

Coping With Tommy John

which there was. When the MRI results came

back, the doctors broke the news to him that he
had a partially torn medial ulnar collateral
ligament which, like Stoddard, ended his 2015
season as well. He went on and got Tommy John
surgery on April 15th but had he found out sooner,
he definitely would have gotten surgery
immediately. Again, much like Stoddard, he was
put in a cast after surgery and could not move his
arm for a week and then eventually moved into a
mobile cast, restrained to limited range.
Luckily for Lembo, according to his
physical therapist, he is on track to be back in
mid-February. My rehab has been progressing
well enough to be ahead of schedule. I hope to be
back before the season starts, stated Lembo.
Once again, like Stoddard, his rehab consisted of
shoulder, forearm, and other muscle group
strengthening for the first 4 months and at the 4month mark his throwing program began. For his
throwing program, he throws three times a week
at increasing distances and intensities. It is also
very important for him to continue rehabbing after
every throwing session. In October, he began to
throw on flat ground and off of a mound as well,
slowly getting back into the shape he was before.
In the past year, both Stoddard and
Lembo, have experienced many adversities due to
their injuries but that did not stop their personal
work ethics nor did it get in the way from them
being team-players. Honestly the whole process
sucks and it was hard to keep a positive mindset
especially suffering an incapacitating injury in my
senior year. But I try to keep a positive attitude
every day and be thankful that I was given a
second chance to play my senior year, said
Stoddard. That was not only very true for
Stoddard but Lembo also had the very same
mindset. Lembo states, I mean, not playing the
rest of the season definitely upset me, but I tried
to have the same attitude about everything as if I
wasnt hurt. They both, not only have dedicated
the past year to rehab and training, but they have
also stuck by their fellow Pioneers throughout,
helping in any way they could. Of course, since
they could not actively play alongside their
teammates, they still helped and provided much
feedback to their fellow pitchers. Stoddard would
even hang out in the bullpen and help Coach
Mazzoni as the honorary bullpen coach. Lembo
kept the guys loose, at all times, by echoing the
name of sophomore catcher, Jake Friar, in a
friendly yet hysterical manner when requested,
which the entire team loved.

The 2016 season should definitely be an

exciting year for these two, as they look to bounce
back from their 2015 season ending Tommy John
Surgeries. Both of them possess the drive and
determination needed to comeback and be
successful as they once were.