Prized White Sox pitching prospect Dane Dunning left Saturday’s game after only 3.2 innings with an apparent arm injury. Video from Saturday’s game doesn’t look promising. Dunning is seen shrugging in pain after his last pitch before the medical staff put the kybosh on his outing.
Dane Dunning's last pitch of the night. pic.twitter.com/svWgV8Dgxb
— Jim Margalus (@SoxMachine) June 24, 2018
It is difficult to tell where Dunning’s injury derives from, but it is clear that he is uncomfortable. Initial reports around twitter place Dunning’s ailment in the elbow area and those reports were confirmed early Sunday by The Athletic’s James Fegan.
Dane Dunning left his start last night with right elbow soreness. He will continue to be examined over the next few days and will undergo an MRI
— James Fegan (@JRFegan) June 24, 2018
Not good news. Many speculating elbow. https://t.co/EATLFWKz5n
— Ryan McGuffey (@RyanMcGuffey) June 24, 2018
Elbo injuries that require Tommy John surgery tend to have consistent characteristics of a mechanical flaw where the hand drags under the elbow in the delivery. Many TJ candidates fail to get their hand above their elbow before their landing foot anchors to the ground. When this happens it puts added stress on the elbow joint to torque the hand up and back while the arm and body drag the delivery forward.
One of the athletes we have been working with. Big improvements in throwing mechanics following Tommy John Surgery! After an injury you must not only address functional deficits but also your mechanics so you can alter how stress is applied to your tissues and joints! pic.twitter.com/lJsleARGwS
— Overhead Athletics (@OAITraining) May 20, 2018
Dunning has a relatively clean delivery and an elbow injury might be indicative of a different flaw where he reaches back in his delivery and almost straightens out his arm. White Sox prospect Zack Burdi is working his way back from TJ surgery and he was an obvious offender of the whip action in his delivery, so it wasn’t surprising when he needed Tommy John surgery.
Nate Jones adopted a quirky delivery after undergoing TJ in 2014 and had nerve-repositioning surgery in 2017 in the same elbow. Jones’ long and tall arm action at the back of his delivery is a clear revision to his mechanics after TJ. And Jones is still dealing with arm issues as he marinades on the 10-day DL with a pronator issue — another clearly related injury to his arm action.
Here is a video of Dunning’s range of mechanics that while not easy to see, gives a lot of insight into his delivery. One thing he does consistently is aggressively open up his landing foot. Sometimes, this adds undue stress to the front side of the throwing arm to clear the hips and yank the arm through the delivery a little too quick.
But quite frankly, Dunning’s mechanics are pretty flawless.
It’s still early to draw conclusions on what Dunning’s injury is. Offical reports haven’t surfaced yet and all accounts are speculation at this point.
This is been a troubling season at all levels for the White Sox this year. Luis Robert and Eloy Jimenez had delayed starts to their season while Alec Hansen missed half of the minor-league season with a suspicious hand injury.
Meanwhile, big league club is suffering through extended injuries to Nicky Delmonico, Miguel Gonzalez and Nate Jones while Leury Garcia and Avisail Garcia were reactivated last week.
