There has been some analysis done regarding how effective batters are the more times they face a pitcher in a game. Most pitchers (this did not apply to Halladay) get less effective against pitchers the third time they face each other. So managers are pulling their starting pitchers to put relievers in.
Before that development, pitch counts were trending downwards each year. In 1974 Nolan Ryan threw 235 pitches in a game. (I can't tell if it was estimated or if they have video or if someone counted, but either way, ]url=
http://framework.latimes.com/2011/07/21 ... 5-pitches/]that's a lot of pitches[/url]. The idea is:
- A pitcher tearing their UCL is catastrophic and most be avoided at all costs. They are lost for 12-14 months in a best case scenario.
- If we reduce pitch counts, that might help?
- What if we REAlLY reducce pitch counts?
These days I would characterize pitch counts to where over 140 is unheard of. 130 will get people tweeting anger at the manager even if they are not a fan of the team. 125 for veterans might be OK but I'd say most guys throw less and it's still considered a long outing. Here is a list of the number of pitches that
Chris Sale threw each game this year. The most was 118. Now, is there any clear scientific evidence that throwing fewer pitches results in less wear and tear on the arm? Well, no, but nobody knows what to do.
Before "Tommy John" surgery (where they reconstruct the UCL) your career was just over. The physical freaks like Nolan Ryan were the ones that could survive.
There has been some analysis done regarding how effective batters are the more times they face a pitcher in a game. Most pitchers (this did not apply to Halladay) get less effective against pitchers the third time they face each other. So managers are pulling their starting pitchers to put relievers in.
Before that development, pitch counts were trending downwards each year. In 1974 Nolan Ryan threw 235 pitches in a game. (I can't tell if it was estimated or if they have video or if someone counted, but either way, ]url=http://framework.latimes.com/2011/07/21/nolan-ryan-throws-235-pitches/]that's a lot of pitches[/url]. The idea is:
- A pitcher tearing their UCL is catastrophic and most be avoided at all costs. They are lost for 12-14 months in a best case scenario.
- If we reduce pitch counts, that might help?
- What if we REAlLY reducce pitch counts?
These days I would characterize pitch counts to where over 140 is unheard of. 130 will get people tweeting anger at the manager even if they are not a fan of the team. 125 for veterans might be OK but I'd say most guys throw less and it's still considered a long outing. Here is a list of the number of pitches that [url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.fcgi?id=salech01&t=p&year=2017]Chris Sale[/url] threw each game this year. The most was 118. Now, is there any clear scientific evidence that throwing fewer pitches results in less wear and tear on the arm? Well, no, but nobody knows what to do.
Before "Tommy John" surgery (where they reconstruct the UCL) your career was just over. The physical freaks like Nolan Ryan were the ones that could survive.