From SI.com:
Reds right-hander Edinson Volquez is expected to miss a year after having reconstructive surgery on his right elbow.
Volquez had surgery Monday to repair a torn ligament and other damage in his pitching elbow.
The 26-year-old Volquez went 4-2 in nine starts before his elbow began bothering him. He has been on the disabled list since June 2.
Young pitchers need to be babied, because overuse can lead to serious injuries. Volquez progressed properly in terms of innings limits. He went from 127 to 140 to 155 to 180 to 196, never jumping more than 30 innings at a time. However, two seasons ago he was traded into the control of Dusty Baker, otherwise known as the destroyer of arms, or the man who killed Prior and Wood. He threw over 110 pitches 14 times last season as a 24 year old, including 5 times in his last 6 starts. His numbers to start this season were off from the start, and it seems that he will likely miss 2010 now as well.
The next time someone complains to you about the restrictions the Yankees have placed on Joba Chamberlain’s innings, or curses Joe Girardi for pulling him after 98 pitches, point them towards Edinson Volquez. His truly is a cautionary tale. Will all young pitchers react to the workload in the same fashion as Volquez? Certainly not. Will some who are protected get hurt anyhow? Most definitely. But it is better to be safe than sorry, especially when dealing with an ace caliber arm.
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12 Responses to What We Can Learn From Edinson Volquez
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TIQ IQ
Good points.
I agree tremendously and I am tired of hearing every beat writer stance on pitch counts. They are not pitching coaches, they are not the manager of the NY Yankees. I have faith in my GM and the coaches. They have a plan. Fans need to relax and no that the plan is in place to not only help these young pitchers mature and succeed now but in the future so that maybe, just maybe we get to see another dynasty with young players evolving!
Love you Moshe, (funny name) but who the hell cares, your an enlightened cat, I mean that!
Every day as a Yankee fan is just another reason to be happy and smile.
Not just pitching coaches, there are stacks of medical data and years of analysis backing up their stance on this. And Tom Verducci has been publishing statistical and anecdotal evidence for years.
The people who are against this just haven’t investigated the topic. And if you saw my bit on Nolan Ryan yesterday, he’s the last guy people should be listening to.
What is worse is that many fans trust the writers so much that they think the team is being crazy with babying the pitchers. Considering that most teams are doing this, maybe they should trust the front office a bit more.
I have another one for you, Fausto Carmona.
http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/C/Fausto-Carmona.shtml
Look at this monstrosity. Here’s his age+innings pitched
Year-Age-IP
2002-18-80.1
2003-19-154
2004-20-163
2005-21-173.2
2006-22-102.1 (called up to CLE as reliever)
2007-23-215 (Plus another 15 IP in the playoffs, 230 total)
2008-24-129.2 (Hurt most of season)
2009-25-112 (Hurt and ineffective)
They handled him well up to their playoff run in 07. Then he pitched 128 more innings in 2007 than 2006, and exceeded his career high by over 56 IP. Hasn’t been the same since.
Scott Kazmir is another young Ace stuff arm who has suffered a huge set back in both injuries and the loss of break and velocity after throwing 536 innings by the time he was 23 years old in just the big leagues. After having a potential left handed Ace to pair with Price Kazmir is left with a decent 3rd starter stuff at the current moment (though he has shown flashes of getting better) and an ERA of over 6 ERA and his absence of “stuff” is hurting the Rays chances at making the playoffs.
2005-22 YRs old – 186 IP
2006-22 YRs old – 144 IP
2007-23 YRs old – 206 IP
2008-24 Yrs old – 152 IP
I hate Dusty Baker. Hell, he even “ruined” Aaron Harang’s career because of his lack of restraint.
If I were the Reds, I’d shutdown Cueto before his arm falls off.
I don’t think anyone forgets or wants to repeat the catastrophe that was Mark Prior and Kerry Wood with Joba.
I don’t believe in pitch counts…I believe in common since. One can go over 30 innings a year or under, depending on the pressure innings pitched. 30 innings is a good guide to start with but, not written in stone. Same with each game, 100 innings is not the cut off point…the type of innings is more important.
I agree to a certain extent when were dealing with mature pitchers. But young guys (under the age of 25) have to be treated more carefully. Doctors who specialize in Sports Medicine all agree on this.
That’s not to say guys won’t still get hurt, but you hope to minimize those injuries and lengthen their career.
Go look at all those “work horse” pitchers who blasted 200 pitches a game all those years and show how overrated pitch counts are and then go look at when they retired and see how none of them pitched into there 40s or even late 30s. you are going to start seeing pitchers careers for the most be extended to quite a few years so that you will get more production for a longer time period out of your great arms as oppose to a bunch of work in a few short years of potential.
Sorry, you are wrong!
Jim Kaat played 25 yrs…1st yr 200 innings (7x over 250+ innings)
Gaylord Perry played 22 yrs…1st yr 206 (6×300+)
Bert Blyleven played 22 yrs…1st 164/2nd278 @20 years old (9×250+)
Warren Spahn played 21 yrs…(16×250+)
Steve Carlton played 24 yrs…(13×250+) 193 1st year
Tom Seaver played 20 years…(11×250+) 1st @ 22 year old 251.
Their are many more.
Does this mean every pitcher can throw 250 innings or 180+ innings their 1st year without injury…NO!
With this news about Volquez I wonder if people still feel that the trade with him for Josh Hamilton is still “pretty equal” he may never recover and if he does there is no guarantee he will be who he was.