WasWatching.com

Funny how Verducci never seemed to care about "abusive increases in workload" when his pal Joe Torre was burning out arms left and right in the bullpen. I wonder how many chapters Tommy V. will devote to the "Torre Effect" in their upcoming book.

Could we see the unfolding of a de facto 6-man rotation? Wang, Andy, Phil, Joba, Kennedy, Moose? Keeps the innings down, but might raise issues with respect to staying sharp. Maybe Ian and Joba take turns doing a month at a time in the bullpen. Carrying 6 starters means the bullpen will get stretched unless a few of the starters chip in from time to time. Given the age range of the staff, very young and very old (or at least a lot of years in Andy's case), it might unfold whether or not they plan it that way.

Also, Wang went from 116 IP in '05 to 218 IP in '06 without breaking down and with a lower ERA.

Just realized I screwed up and didn't include Wangs innings in the minors before getting called up in '05.

According to Will Carrol, college and minor league innings do not equate to major league innings in this type of analysis.

Pete Abraham mentioned that Verducci didn't include Kennedy's HWL innings from 2006 so it turns out Kennedy in 2007 exceeded his 2006 numbers by 30.67 innings.

Yup, the Hawaii IP pretty much moots the column.

Verducci does mention it.

"One caveat: Kennedy's jump is not as alarming as first blush indicates. The Yankees did give him an extra 30 1/3 "unofficial" innings of winter ball in 2006 (see Carmona below); not your high-stress big league innings, but still good incremental training. If you count that work, his jump of 30 2/3 innings barely pushes him into the danger zone."

That caveat renders his argument semi-moot, and needless to say it should have been included in this post. Cashman is staking his career on his young pitchers, and Nardi certainly deserves his "expert" cap... so I wouldn't worry too much about how they will manage their innings; they know what they're doing better than we ever will.

The "caveat" came up in an update of the SI article once Kennedy's HWL innings were brought to his attention, Steve probably wrote his post based on the original article.

~~~ The "caveat" came up in an update of the SI article once Kennedy's HWL innings were brought to his attention, Steve probably wrote his post based on the original article.~~~

Tommy V did update his feature – probably because many, and I think SG at BTF was the 1st, brought up the HWL innings.

Personally, I don’t think that one should count the HWL innings. When did his college season end, June? When did he throw in the HWL, December and/or January? To me, once you have a half-year, thereabouts, in between the college season and the HWL, it takes away from being able to combine them as being an innings total thrown in one year. But, maybe that’s just me?

I never really thought this stuff could be based on opinion. Do we count HWB innings or not? Of course you count them! His arm is being taxed, the muscles are doing the work beyond what they are used to.

Mike - have you ever exercised? Rest, in between, is a huge difference. HUGE.

If you did 25 chin-ups, stopped, counted to ten, and then did some more, it would not be the same as doing 25 chin-ups, then letting a few days pass, and then doing some more.

This is the same thing. He threw a bunch of innings in the NCAA, and then took off 6 months, and threw 30 more. It's not like he threw a bunch in the NCAA, took four days off, and then threw 30 more.

It's not taxing the muscles in the same way, because of all the rest in between.

Steve, he wasn't sitting on his couch in between the college season and the HWB season. He was down in Tampa throwing bullpens and simulated games the whole time, even before he signed. His arm was working, and even though it was light work, it was still work.

Will Carrol. Addressed the fact that minor league innings aren't the same as MLB innings. On LoHud. Like a week ago. Repeating myself. Please listen. I mean you no harm. Read the post already.

~~~He was down in Tampa throwing bullpens and simulated games the whole time, even before he signed. His arm was working, and even though it was light work, it was still work.~~~

But still not the same stress as facing batters in game conditions.

Will Carrol. Addressed the fact that minor league innings aren't the same as MLB innings. On LoHud. Like a week ago. Repeating myself. Please listen. I mean you no harm. Read the post already.
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That's his supposition, it's not fact.

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This is the same thing. He threw a bunch of innings in the NCAA, and then took off 6 months, and threw 30 more. It's not like he threw a bunch in the NCAA, took four days off, and then threw 30 more.

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Yet if he pitched in April and May, and then went on the DL until September, he would be given credit for the September IP.