Pretty interesting article on long-tossing.
Game's top two pitching prospects may be igniting a revolution
Some of you might remember back to last year's draft when a couple pitchers basically told several teams not to draft them because they did not want to stop their long-tossing programs. The Royals were among the teams adamantly opposed to long-tossing, but they buckled and reluctantly told them they'd allow it if they drafted them. (Both of them were picked right before the Royals pick, so it never became an issue) Both pitchers are doing awesome in the minors now.
Long-tossing was a common old-school part of a pitcher's routine during off days that died out in the 80's because teams thought it was responsible for pitching injuries. Now, people are thinking they had it exactly backwards: a long-toss program could help prevent injuries.
The Royals apparently had a change of heart, because the new minor league pitching coordinator believes in the long-toss program and has told our minor league pitchers to go ahead and air it out if they want.
Thats probably a good thing, because just about every pitcher we might draft at #5 has a long-toss program, and likely wouldn't want to be drafted by a team who wont let them do it.