Between Phil Hughes injuries, Ian Kennedy pitching as well as Teddy Kennedy and Clay Buccholz stinking up the joint, I am hoping it will be the end of this insane babying of pitchers.
All the Joba rules and treating the 2008 season as Joba's private spring training didn't prevent him from going on the DL when he was needed most.
Treating Kennedy like John Travolta in the Boy in the Plastic Bubble didn't prevent his year from stinking worse than Battlefield Earth. (That's two Travolta references in one sentence.)
And my Red Sox treated Buccholz like he was the egg in Risky Business... and look how that turned out. He's in AA Portland!
Here's a radical idea:
Have pitchers pitch.
If they are in the show, show that they have earned it.
I have seen a grand total of zero positives of treating pitchers like fabrege eggs. Go out there and pitch some f---ing innings!
Who would have thought that Carl Pavano would have only one fewer win than the combination of Hughes, Kennedy and Buccholz?
Can someone please show me the pitching staff that has had long term success by turning their drawers brown when a starting pitcher hits 6 innings?
This is why I was advocating Joba for the bullpen:
If your starters are only going 6 innings, you had better be sure talented pitchers are throwing the 7 and 8th innings... because if they blow the lead, you only have 2 or 3 chances to get it back.
Granted that point became moot when Wang got injured and Joba HAD to start.
But still, all the babying in the world for a big guy like Joba... and he's hurt when the Yankees need him
And the tyranny of the pitch count makes no sense.
Sure a pitch count works when you have a guy who tends to wear down (something that Grady Little had a hard time grasping.)
But not every pitcher is built the same and not every pitch has the same amount of stress on the body.
Which is more stressful? Pitching in a 9-0 game or a 2-1 game?
Oh that's right... games are played in vacuums. I forgot.
It's MASS INSANITY!
People are suscribing to a theory that has never worked and yet is being treated as gospel!
They are using the Rick Peterson method that has led to injuries for Mark Mulder, Zito stinking up the joint and Rich Harden needing to legally change his name to "Injury Prone Rich Harden."
Why not have pitchers pitch like Mazzone had the Braves pitch?
Mazzone had Glavine, Avery and Smoltz...
Maddux had his best years with him
As did Neagle, Mercker and Millwood.
And how many pitchers got their careers back on track with him?
My God he made a career of polishing turds and then having those turns sign big contracts with the Yankees
Think Chris Hammond, think Jaret Wright, think Kyle Farnsworth
But better not follow HIS example
Better follow Rick Peterson's whose teams have won fewer post season series than the 2007 Rockies.
Better keep babying pitchers and blowing their arms out because they are so fragile.
Albert Einstein once said "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
But what the hell did HE know?
