PITCH COUNTS: BAD FOR BASEBALL

Admittedly, I was never an elite athlete.  I didn't play sports at a high level, although I did have a short teenaged career as a baseball player (mainly a pitcher).  I pitched a lot.  Often twice a week and never once did I have arm soreness.  I wasn't on a pitch count, simply an innings limit; which at the time was designed more in fairness so that other players could pitch rather than protect a hurler's arm.

Today it has been revealed Washington Nationals phenom Stephen Strasburg has a torn elbow ligament and will need Tommy John surgery before he can pitch again.  He's looking at a 12-month recovery and probably 6-months after that before he's back to full speed, although some guys don't ever get back to previous form.  The list of pitchers that have undergone this surgery is lengthy, but the number of guys who have had the surgery just in the last 10 years is staggering.  In my opinion, it's because pitchers are now babied right from minor baseball through to the pros.  The arm isn't conditioned the way it needs to be in order to be a real effective power pitcher at the major league level. 

Let's look at some of the great power pitchers from years gone by:  Steve Carlton (minimum 24 starts each year from 1967-1984), Nolan Ryan (minimum 26 starts each year from 1971-1992 except for strike shortened 1981 season), Tom Seaver (minimum 21 starts each year from 1967-1985), Don Sutton (minimum 32 starts from 1967-1980), and Gaylord Perry (at least 30 starts each year from 1966-1983).

Now, let's look at some current pitchers who have ALREADY had this procedure done:  Erik Bedard, Kris Benson, Ryan Dempster, Kyle Drabek (not even in the majors yet), Octavio Dotel, Jesse Litsch, Shaun Marcum, Joe Nathan, Carl Pavano, John Smoltz, Rafael Soriano, Joakim Soria, Edinson Volquez, Billy Wagner, Brian Wilson, and CJ Wilson.  All of these guys are power pitchers. 

This year, Ryan is heavily involved in the development of pitchers with the Texas Rangers and he's using the pitch count as a measuring stick to a certain degree, but it's not the be-all end-all when determining when a pitcher should come out of the game.  It will be interesting in a few years, once some of these young Ranger pitchers reach the majors to see if their arms are better conditioned and can, therefore, avoid serious arm/elbow issues.

Think of it this way:  if you are a parent and you are over-protective of your children for 18-years, there is a good chance that first year they are away from home, you are going to have major issues.  The child doesn't know how to look after himself/herself in the real world without having the fallback of mom or dad.  Pitching arms are the same way.