Hey folks,
As promised, enjoy. Props to Ryan for getting the interviews, I just did the easy part.
Jason Ferrell is a sophomore left-hander from Columbus, Ohio. He also had Tommy John surgery last year.
He made his first appearance of the season last Wednesday against Xavier, much to the surprise of his teammates.
"We didn't really go into the game planning to use him," IU coach Tracy Smith told the IDS after the 10-4 win over Xavier. "But as the game shaped up, we were like, 'You know what, let's get his shoes dirty a little bit and see what he can do.'"
Ferrell himself said he felt good back on the mound and in competition.
"I wouldn't say (I feel) 100 percent, but that's the first time I've actually gone against hitters," Ferrell said after a scoreless inning against Xavier. "I think this is a good first step for me."
His second step was pretty solid too.
Ferrell threw 3 1/3 innings in relief in the Hoosiers' 8-3 win over Minnesota on Saturday, striking out three and surrendering one run. If he's not 100 percent, I'm sure Smith and the coaches are salivating at the thought of what exactly that is.
I'll try to have more on this for you in the next few days, keep checking the blog and the IDS.
One quick score update for you: The Hoosiers took game four Sunday, splitting their first Big Ten road series with Minnesota. The Hoosiers beat the Gophers 8-7 on the heels of a five-run ninth. This was actually a pretty wild one, so I suggest you check out Ryan's wrap in Monday's IDS. It will be worth your while.
But back to the Ferrell story.
It's one of the more revolutionary pieces of sports medicine, Tommy John surgery. Basically, a tendon is taken from somewhere else in the body and put in the elbow in place of the ligament formerly there.
Ferrell is one of a growing number of younger pitchers having Tommy John surgery (a kid I went to high school with was actually the first high schooler to have it done). It's been decried as too much for young kids in sports as much as its been declared a revolutionary treatment for abused young pitchers. So we'll open it up on this forum, what do you think? Is Tommy John surgery a good thing for high school/college athletes, or is it the next step for a culture too obsessed with sports success?
