The Orioles are limiting the number of innings pitched for their young'uns. Should the Astros do the same with pitchers under 25 years of age?
(Note: The Crawfish Boxes posted a similar story regarding Bud Norris)
Within that CB link, Tom Verducci explains:
The unofficial industry standard is that no young pitcher should throw more than 30 more innings than he did the previous season. It's a general rule of thumb, and one I've been tracking for about a decade. When teams violate the incremental safeguard, it's amazing how often they pay for it.
Alright, so let's take us a gander at this: Which pitchers age 25 and younger have already exceeded 30IP over 2008 totals?
Bud Norris
2007: 102.2 IP
2008: 80 IP
2009: 147.2 IP
Felipe Paulino
2007: 131 IP
2008: 0.2 IP
2009: 98 IP
It's worth noting that Paulino's IP jumped from 55 in 2005 to 126.1 in 2006. He threw 131 in 2007, and missed just about all of 2008. That's why he's listed - as a precautionary tale.
Danny Meszaros
2008: 26.1 IP
2009: 65.1 IP
David Duncan
2008: 55.1 IP
2009: 115 IP
Shane Wolf
2008: 58 IP
2009: 100.1 IP
As we get into Lexington, it's a little tricky, as many of the players were in short-season ball in 2008. Nevertheless:
Robert Bono
2007: 34.1 IP
2008: 75 IP
2009: 124.1 IP
Kyle Godfrey
2008: 30 IP
2009: 72.2 IP
Jordan Lyles
2008: 55.1 IP
2009: 133.2 IP
Again, this should be taken for what it's worth - pitchers advancing their careers (and some making an adjustment from short-season to a moderately full-out season). But it's still interesting.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
