Author: Vernon Gambetta

I have always thought pitch counts were an arbitrary random number. When I was with the White Sox we produced a large number of very effective starting pitchers. In their development pitch counts was one factor that was considered. Our philosophy was to condition them to pitch, teach them how to pitch and put them in situations where they had to compete and get hitters out. The record speaks for itself. Saw this article on SI site, maybe baseball is catching up to what we did in the 90's.   Tom Verducci – THREE STRIKES On Wednesday, Max Scherzer, 25, of the Tigers threw 123 pitches and Chad Billingsley, 25, of the Dodgers threw 125 pitches. The next day, Josh Johnson, 26, of the Marlins threw 121 pitches and Justin Verlander, 27, of the Tigers threw 120 pitches. Nobody seemed to get too worked up about it. There was a time — OK, it was in the wake of Mark Prior and Kerry Wood breaking down — when such high pitch counts for young pitchers would have set off deputized pitch-count mobs reaching for their torches and pitchforks. But something very interesting is going on during this pitching renaissance: managers are letting their pitchers ring up high pitch counts more often. From 2001 through 2008, the number of 120-pitch outings declined every season. But last year there was a 26-percent uptick, which has been followed by another increase this year of nearly 30 percent, based on the current rates. Here are the number of starts in which a pitcher threw 120 pitches, beginning with 2003, the year Wood and Prior carried the Cubs to within one game of the World Series, only to be hurt the next season: 2003: 226 2004: 186 2005: 135 2006: 120 2007: 81 2008: 73 2009: 92 2010: 119* * projected What's going on? Managers, general managers and the media no longer are running so scared. The environment has calmed. There have been fewer high-profile breakdowns, at least anecdotally. Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan, president of the Texas Rangers, has provided a strong, respected voice arguing that the Conservation Movement (fewer pitches equals fewer problems) went too far. Perhaps most of all, this cycle of young starting pitchers has been good enough to help change the culture. Of the 70 starts this year of 120 pitches, 52 have been thrown by pitchers in their 20s. That's already more than pitchers in their 20s threw just three years ago — and we still have more than two months left in the season. Demise of the dinosaurs There is another trend that becomes obvious when you look at high-pitch count games over the past decade: the pitching dinosaurs are extinct. Remember when old dudes such as Roger Clemens, Mike Mussina, Randy Johnson, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Curt Schilling and even Woody Williams roamed major league mounds? Those pitchers have vanished so quickly you would think an asteroid struck the game. In 2004, there were 24 games in which somebody at least 36 years old threw 120 or more. Just four years later? Zip. And this year? Zip, again. In fact, there have been only two high-pitch-count games thrown by such old pitchers in the past three years combined (by Pedro Martinez and Brian Moehler, both in 2009). Take a look at the path to extinction for 120-pitch games by guys 36-and-older: 2004: 24 2005: 14 2006: 11 2007: 5 2008: 0 2009: 2 2010: 0 The old masters, a group that also included Greg Maddux (who went the last eight years of his career without throwing 120 pitches in a game), are gone. The generation of starting pitchers right behind them was weak. But this new generation is so deep that it's helping to change how the game is played. There is no doubt that baseball today is a young man's game. Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/tom_verducci/07/23/pitch.counts/index.html#ixzz0ubmZIzN7