 |
| Rinku Singh recovering from Tommy John Surgery. Photo Credit: Getty Images |
If you have been watching any sporting event of any length in recent weeks you have seen the ads for the movie “Million Dollar Arm” about two young men lives in Rinku Singh and Dinesh Kumar Patel from India who win a reality show that sought to see who could throw the hardest. Rinku Singh won with show w/ an 87 mph throw. Singh, still with the Pirates after signing w/ them in 2008, unfortunately now has joined an ever growing club of pitchers with one common thread: undergoing Tommy John surgery.
By: Michael Hanley
Singh’s Tommy John surgery took place last summer and he has since then been dealing with the physical and mental toll that surgery can put a pitcher through. The physical part is obvious, having to rebuild the arm strength, get movement back, go through the exercises in rehab etc. The mental aspect though, can be very difficult for a pitcher to deal with, especially coming right off of the actual surgery. Knowing they must go through nearly a year of rehabilitation, having to do routine of activities every day can certainly break a person’s spirit and willingness to see the rehab program through.
That person is not Singh though, he is determined to get back to the mound, 100% healthy. He will take this summer to continue his rehab work and is eying a return to playing in 2015. Singh is keeping a positive attitude through all the ups and downs of recovering from tommy john surgery: "I believe it doesn't matter where you're coming from or what kind of job you have in life," Singh said in a recent phone interview with media members. "If you're willing to give 110 percent on a daily basis, it doesn't matter how you feel. If you're ready to show up on time and give all you've got, you're going to succeed." Singh has had an average career so far in the Pirates minor league system, compiling a 10-6 record with a 2.99 ERA since 2008.
Tommy John surgery is something that has gotten to be an alarmingly regular procedure young pitchers are now having these days. You see in the major leagues, stars like Matt Harvey, Patrick Corbin and more recently Jose Fernandez all going down and having to go through the tedious process of rehabilitation. In an era of pitch counts and trying to protect young pitchers from injury, its seems as if they are getting hurt more and more.
Organizations and baseball in general can continue to put in measures to try and help pitchers but there continues to be a track record of those measures doing nothing but limiting the potential and success of a young pitcher and the organization in general. Pitchers like Singh, who are just trying to make it in minor league baseball, have an even greater pressure to make it back for their livelihood.
