Strasburg - Hall of Fame or DL?

Stephen Strasburg made his MLB debut last night and had an absolutely dominating performance, striking out 14 Pittsburgh Pirate hitters with some really nasty pitches.

As a student of the art of pitching, I always find myself studying a pitcher's mechanics.

I noticed something last night that has me worried that Stephen Strasburg may land himself on the DL long before he finds himself on a Hall of Fame ballot.

The pictures below are of pitchers who have struggled with arm injuries their entire careers. Each and every one of these pitchers is what I call an "elbow lifter." Former big league pitcher and current pitching instructor Dick Mills provides us with a very clear and concise definition of elbow lifting:

Elbow lifting causes the elbow to lift up above the throwing shoulder. Then upon landing with the elbow above the shoulder the elbow must quickly snap into a position to begin arm acceleration. This is very, very stressful and is the cause of many elbow and shoulder injuries in pitchers.

Pitchers below in order of appearance (Brandon McCarthy,Mark Prior, Francisco Liriano, Kerry Wood, John Smoltz)

Now, let's look at some pictures of Mr. Strasburg:

Let's compare the pictures above to the pictures below of some of the best pitchers in baseball who have had very few arm injuries in their career. Pay attention to the position of their throwing elbow.

These pictures may mean absolutely nothing or they mean everything for Mr. Strasburg. Only time will tell.