(05-26-2025, 11:14 AM)CowboyIndian Wrote: Nolan Ryan is probably a one-off but he chuckles at this.
I think a bigger problem is year-round baseball for kids.
Definitely a problem. Not just in baseball. There’s been a lot of studies that indicate that playing multiple sports is much better for kids physically. Makes perfect sense as they’re using different muscles throughout the year.
Speaking of Nolan – his numbers are unbelievable. Particularly given the fact that he was still throwing cheese at 45. I heard recently that he pitched a game where he went 13 innings Struck out 19. Walked 10.
I have to believe that in his earlier years when he would typically strike out 9 or 10 and walk a slew of batters that he was consistently around 150 pitches a game and sometimes approaching near 200. It obviously shortened his career. Otherwise he still might be pitching!
Mick dateline='[url=tel:1748327865' Wrote: 1748327865[/url]']
I seem to recall Tim Lincecum pitched a number of games for Washington over 140 pitches. He holds the records at Washington for most starts (51), and second most overall innings (342). That's an average of just over seven innings per start, assuming no relief appearances. Also holds the record for most strikeouts at 491, meaning he threw a ton of pitches. And Lincecum threw his last pitch in the majors at age 32, but he was basically done by 27. At age 28, he led the NL in losses, earned runs given up and wild pitches. -1.7 WAR that year.
Still, Stanford has six pitchers who threw more innings than Lincecum at Washington (Ballard, Plemel, Petersen, Appel, Spencer, McDowell). None of them are within 100 strikeouts of Lincecum's 491 at UWash.
Lincecum is a tough example. Given his motion, there was always a belief that his career would be short. It’s why he “dropped“ to the Giants in the first round. But my goodness, did he shine brightly during those years in his prime. His NLDS game 1 vs Braves in 2010 is one of the most underrated great postseason pitching performance of my lifetime.
