Sports Talk: Breaks of Summer

IT'S THE SUMMER OF ligament discontent. Major league pitchers are spending more time in rehab than Lindsay Lohan.

The struggling New York Yankees have started 11 pitchers so far because of injuries. Even young stars like Seattle's Felix Hernandez and Minnesota's Francisco Liriano — who is missing the entire season after Tommy John surgery — have been shut down over arm pain.

With four pitchers from their Opening-Day rotation on the disabled list, the Nationals are among the most bereaved of the lot.

"It's weird, but it's almost so weird that you almost have to laugh about it," said Shawn Hill, who was to get a second opinion Thursday on the enflamed right elbow that landed him on the disabled list. "The problem [in the major leagues] now is you're paying guys $15 million a year; you don't want to risk the chance that you overuse them."

Big league pitching is all about precaution these days. An elbow tweak that turns out to be nothing can cost a starter at least two outings and few doctors visits. But ignoring the tweak and pitching through the pain has cost hurlers their entire season and robbed their team of a chance to compete.

In this particular instance, the Nationals are in a position to give pitchers like Mike Basick (1-1) and Jason Simontacchi (2-3) a chance to start while the surprisingly successful Hill and Jason Bergmann take time to heal.

"We think that Shawn is a part of our future, and, given the year we're having as a team, we want to make sure that he's OK with the future," Nationals general manager Jim Bowden said.

Bergmann (2.76 ERA), who flirted with a no-hitter earlier this season before going on the disabled list two weeks ago, said his rehab would depend on how his right elbow feels over the next few days. John Patterson (elbow inflammation and nerve damage) and Jerome Williams (right labrum tear) are also currently on the shelf.

The rash of injuries comes in the same year Little League International has instituted pitch count limits in an attempt to save young arms. In making the move, the youth baseball organization cited a report from the American Medical Research Institute that showed a sharp increase in teen elbow surgeries over the last decade. The report blamed overuse as the chief culprit.

"I think you have to protect the young guys, but only to a certain extent," Hill said. "[But] you can't get a stronger arm unless you throw more. You protect them too much and all the sudden you're not going to have anyone coming up throwing gas."

Written by Express contributor Eric Brandner
Photo by Donald Miralle/Getty Images