Verducci put Harvey in the list because he threw four more pitches in a season than his formula allows. That's why it's bunk.
Verducci put Harvey in the list because he threw four more pitches in a season than his formula allows. That's why it's bunk.
Hoping to change my username to 75769023
Brutus (08-26-2013),The Operator (08-27-2013)
Well, it's four more innings in 2012, and Harvey's workload also increased by 45 innings from 2010 to 2011. Harvey was clearly 'at risk' under the Verducci rule of thumb.
I understand the criticism of Verducci. His rule is arbitrary, and unscientific. Yet if I owned a MLB team, I'd aim to keep my top young prospects year to year inning increases at about 20 per year, at least until a more scientific method is developed to try to protect these pitchers, and the multi-million dollar investments made in them.
Although some on here are very critical of Verducci, does anyone here really think it is a good idea to take a 23 year old pitcher who threw 120 inning in one season, and allow him to top 200 IP the next year? Of course not: we all recognize that there is at least a chance that at some point the fatigue a pitcher gets in his arm can lead to injury. The idea that you build up strength and endurance year to year is at least somewhat logical.
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"I think we’re starting to get to the point where people are starting to get tired of this stretch of ball,” Votto said. “I think something needs to start changing and start going in a different direction. I’m going to do my part to help make that change.”
Precisely. There is no set way. Each person is completely different with a utterly different set of circumstances.
There is no magic number to follow. Each case must be treated individually (which teams do) rather than holistically. Verducci's idea that young pitchers should be treated with caution is sound advice. Assigning, or attempting to assign, some arbitrary number to every single pitcher in baseball is an absurd exercise in futility.
No one is criticizing Verducci for the idea. They're criticizing the random, worthless cutoff that he imposes for potential injury. There is none and will never be. Each pitcher comes from a different background with different medical history and is pitching in a different environment.
"No matter how good you are, you're going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are you're going to win one-third of your games. It's the other third that makes the difference." ~Tommy Lasorda
I'm right there with you. I pitched up thru high school and during baseball season there was never a day where my arm didn't hurt. Even now, 8 years after high school - if I play catch with someone my arm is sore for at least a day.
Granted, I threw hard (or fairly hard for high school, got clocked as high as 90 once, although I lived around 85), and my mechanics were pretty bad (probably why I walked so many guys); but the act of throwing a baseball overhand is just sooooooo violent to an arm.
And while we're on the topic of high school, there is some definite pitcher abuse that goes on at that level. I asked my dad to count my pitches one game - ended being a 7-inning CG. I asked him how many pitches I threw and he said "I stopped counting at 150 during the 5th inning." That was my sophomore (!) season.
It happens at every high school, too. Coaches pick about 2 or 3 guys and ride them like Seattle Slew.
Didn't Devin Mesoraco have to have TJ surgery in high school?
See you in 2015, Matt.
Took the doofus long enough.
“I don’t care,” Votto said of passing his friend and former teammate. “He’s in the past. Bye-bye, Jay.”
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