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January 26, 2004

Prospectus Q&A

Dr. Glenn Fleisig, Part II

by Jonah Keri

The American Sports Medicine Institute kicks off its 22nd annual "Injuries in Baseball" course Jan. 29 in Orlando. Today we continue from Part I of our discussion with ASMI's Smith and Nephew Chair of Research, Dr. Glenn Fleisig.

Baseball Prospectus: Do teams tend to send more major league pitchers or minor leaguers? What are some of the differences between the two groups?

Dr. Glenn Fleisig: Teams look at it from both perspectives. Obviously they have a major interest in getting their major league pitchers healthy and performing at peak efficiency. But they also have a great deal invested in their better minor league prospects, where they may have a big career in front of them, but face a lot of uncertainty. The minor leaguers that we see, some have it, some don't. Teams can use our input to try and identify who'll be the major leaguers of tomorrow, but also to help refine the mechanics and performance of their raw gems; at a younger level, there's more opportunity to adjust flaws, if we can diagnose them. Major leaguers tend to be very professional. They're focused on what it is they need to do, they have the intelligence and experience to understand the limits of their bodies, and they're generally better students of their profession.

It's funny...we didn't know when we got into this if there'd be hesitation from teams, in sending either their prospects or major leaguers over. But everybody who's used our services has been very open-minded, optimistic, and from what we've been told, pleased with the results.

BP: Talking about younger pitchers and some of the injuries that can really derail a young career--are they susceptible to injury because their mechanics and approach aren't as refined, or because pitching arms are more fragile while they're still maturing?

Fleisig: We're very interested in injury prevention on the younger side--Dr. Andrews and I are on the USA Baseball Medical and Safety Advisory Committee. USA Baseball is the governing body of amateur baseball in the U.S., which means picking and overseeing the Olympic team, but also governing youth leagues and high school ball. When we've found some answers, through USA Baseball we've been able to get those answers out there to young pitchers and their coaches.