When Ben Cortez’s son was playing youth baseball in North County, he became alarmed by the statistics he saw regarding the growing number of arm injuries among younger players.
“My son played at La Costa Canyon, a great program, but I kept seeing data from 2008 and ’09 showing kids getting Tommy John surgery way too early,” Cortez said.
Tommy John surgeries, a procedure that replaces a damaged ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in the elbow with a tendon from elsewhere in the body, have increased by nearly threefold in professional baseball over the last decade, rising from 104 cases in 2010 to 314 in 2020, according to a 2024 MLB study.
At the same time, pitchers are throwing faster than ever, with average four-seam fastball velocity climbing from 91.3 mph to 94.2 mph since 2008.
The proliferation of arm injuries has trickled down to the youth level. A study published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine back in 2014 reported that 67.4% of UCL reconstruction surgeries were performed on athletes aged 16-20.
Concerned by the overemphasis on power pitching, Cortez, a 31-year sports performance coach, opened Diamond Champ in San Marcos to help athletes build power safely and combat the ongoing injury crisis.
Diamond Champ is a sports performance facility specializing in baseball training and instruction since 2022. The program emphasizes strength, mobility, and injury prevention, combining personalized coaching with data-driven techniques to help athletes optimize their performance while maintaining optimal health.
Cortez leads a team of coaches — including former MLB player Raul Gonzalez, CSUSM pitching coach Jesse English, Sean Lucas, Padres pitching staff member Eric Junge, and nutritionist Emma Araya — working with over 120 players across youth, high school, and collegiate levels.
The coaches bring extensive experience, including hitting coach Gonzalez, a three-time Triple A All-Star who spent several years playing with the Cubs, Mets, Reds and Guardians.
The facility serves about 40 younger players, 20 high school athletes, and 50 to 60 college players, numbers that have steadily grown as families seek safer training options.
“This time of year, college players are finishing their seasons or are in playoffs,” Cortez explained. “We focus on recovery before ramping up strength and preparing high school and younger athletes for the next season.”
Diamond Champ, located off Furniture Row between Ethan Allen and Biggs Harley-Davidson, prioritizes biomechanical efficiency.
“We assess posture and movement before throwing,” Cortez said. “Many players come for pitching, but we work with all positions to build movement patterns that reduce arm stress.”
Cortez emphasized that injuries often don’t start in the arm — they can originate from imbalances elsewhere in the body, such as a limp or a toe injury, which travel up the kinetic chain.
“We treat overhead work as prehab, not rehab,” he said. “Throwing is an overhead movement, so we prepare the body the right way before injuries occur.”
A key part of the Diamond Champ philosophy is teaching pitching without throwing, using light one- or two-pound medicine balls to develop mechanics and arm strength while allowing the arm to rest.
“We focus on training the body to move as one unit,” Cortez said. “This helps build power safely without overloading the arm.”
The vulnerable 10-14 age range is especially important. During this time, growth spurts and hormonal changes increase the risk of injury, according to Cortez.
“Those years can be fragile,” he said. “Little League elbow and other overuse injuries often develop here.”
For parents and coaches, Cortez recommended monitoring pitch counts, encouraging proper rest, and emphasizing overall athletic development to keep young players safe.
“If we can save just one arm, that’s why we do this,” he said.
