How to limit Parra's innings

[logan82]

Well at the start of the year most people thought Parra should have his innings limited. Even the posters who thought Parra should be on the MLB team thought he should have starts skipped to keep his innings down. I guess my question is now what? He is limiting his innings by not pitching well, but I don't think that is really what they had in mind when they talked about limiting his innings. I don't like any of our potions to limit his innings at this point and they don't seem to be skipping any pitcher's starts.

[Oldcity]

Even though his innings have been limited, he's throwing a lot of pitches per inning, so it's not even really making a difference. I imagine at some point he'll be given a break from the major league rotation, especially if the team stays around .500 or below as we reach July and August.

[Diskono]

Like you say, he's doing a pretty good job of that on his own. If he starts going longer into games, I think it falls into the "good problem to have" category. And then, maybe his lack of innings early on will be a blessing in disguise, and prevent him from going over his set limit.

[JJHardy7]

I agree with Steveo. His innings might be down, but that doesn't really matter since he's throwing quite a few pitches and only lasting 5 innings or so. I think he's more on a pitch count limitation than an innings limitation. My guess is that he gets sent down before the end of May and Weaver gets called up. I'm not saying I want Weaver in Milwaukee, but I think that's the direction the Brewers are headed.

[Tbadder]

Make him the closer. (Half-kidding)

[DrWood]

he's only averaging 91.5 pitches per start, so his pitches are being limited by his ineffectiveness.

[Big Reed]

it's sad when a starting pitcher can't go at least 7 innings per game. This means we are either babying our pitchers too much or we have a bunch of mediocre pitchers.

 

Can somebody tell me why the pitchers of the 60's and 70's could pitch 250-300 innings for te n consecutive years and never have ar m problems? and today's pitchers can't even go 200 innings in consecutive years without having problems? have steriods and other enhancing drugs ruined today's pitchers?

 

one would think in today's ages where everyone is bigger and stronger that basbeall pitchers would also be bigger and stronger. what happened? Where have you gone Jim kaat, Gaylord Perry, Bert Blyleven and Phil Niekro?

[Fear The Chorizo]

I think part of the problem is that contracts exploded - if a team signs a highschool pitching phenom to a bonus baby contract on draft day, they're going to take every precaution in the world to keep him healthy, since they've invested significant value in him. Keeping a young pitcher on such strict pitch counts early in his career basically eliminates his ability to build up his arm strength/endurace to a point where he could handle becoming an innings-eating horse once he gets to the majors. In the old days, if a phenom blew his arm out in the minors, they'd go pick up another phenom without worrying about wasting millions of dollars.

 

This is even more apparent in the major leagues once pitchers reach free agency - many injuries that guys pitched through 30 years ago lead to significant DL stretches for today's arms. With guaranteed money in contracts, both pitchers and teams want to limit as many injury risks as possible. Back in "the day", if a pitcher continually didn't take the ball due to arm soreness or pain, he'd get his walking papers and be released from the team. What Sandy Koufax did the last few years of his career never would have happened in today's game...his elbow/arm was basically shot and overused, but he continued to pitch.

 

Careers last longer now on average than they did back then for pitching - when a player is worth so much more now than they were then in a dollars sense to organizations, it should be no surprise that there's an increased emphasis on playing it safe with pitcher's health....why do you think they went to 5 man rotations?

[And That]

he's only averaging 91.5 pitches per start, so his pitches are being limited by his ineffectiveness.

He's averaging 19.8 pitches per inning. That's a lot. While his overall pitches have been limited he's making a lot in a concentrated amount of time... I'd much rather see him average 100 pitches per start over 5.2 or 6 IP per game than 91.5 pitches over 4.2 IP per game.

 

[logan82]

Stevo[/b]]Even though his innings have been limited, he's throwing a lot of pitches per inning, so it's not even really making a difference.

That was my thought as well. I know you can generally use innings instead of pitches, but he has been pretty inefficient.

[Ennder]

it's sad when a starting pitcher can't go at least 7 innings per game. This means we are either babying our pitchers too much or we have a bunch of mediocre pitchers.

 

Can somebody tell me why the pitchers of the 60's and 70's could pitch 250-300 innings for te n consecutive years and never have ar m problems? and today's pitchers can't even go 200 innings in consecutive years without having problems? have steriods and other enhancing drugs ruined today's pitchers?

 

one would think in today's ages where everyone is bigger and stronger that basbeall pitchers would also be bigger and stronger. what happened? Where have you gone Jim kaat, Gaylord Perry, Bert Blyleven and Phil Niekro?

The average hitter is better so pitchers have to throw maximum effort more often. If you stick a great pitcher from the 60's into todays game their innings per year would go down and their ERA would go up. The game has just changed.

[Diskono]

Can somebody tell me why the pitchers of the 60's and 70's could pitch 250-300 innings for te n consecutive years and never have ar m problems? and today's pitchers can't even go 200 innings in consecutive years without having problems? have steriods and other enhancing drugs ruined today's pitchers?

 

one would think in today's ages where everyone is bigger and stronger that basbeall pitchers would also be bigger and stronger. what happened? Where have you gone Jim kaat, Gaylord Perry, Bert Blyleven and Phil Niekro?

I'd bet that a lot of them probably can. Now, we have more teams, which means more pitchers, which means a more diluted talent pool. Guys like Wayne Franklin would have never sniffed the major leagues in the 60s and 70s. Livan Hernandez might be able to go 150 pitches every 3-4 days with no problem, but the other guys in the rotation can't. So, we have to account for the other, crappier pitchers and give them proper rest.

 

[bork]

many injuries that guys pitched through 30 years ago lead to significant DL stretches for today's arms.

Like Vuch pitching with a torn rotator cuff in 1982?

[DrWood]

The batters are stronger and can drive more pitches. You almost never saw guys get jammed and hit it out of the park. Walks and strikeouts are increased, so more pitches made per inning.

The 5 man rotation seems to be an injury thing--protecting your valuable pitchers.