Chicago Cubs ace Jake Arrieta pitched 229 regular-season innings last year. Then a couple of his postseason starts were substandard; conventional wisdom says his arm was tired, so this season he will be limited to six or seven innings in many starts to stay fresh.
Ooh - 229 innings!
I'm surprised Arrieta didn't file a workman's comp claim at season's end.
Couch Slouch is confused - to be honest, this has become a perpetual state of confusion - in regard to the current trend toward "pitch count" and "innings limits."
The pitcher's mound has been 60 feet, 6 inches away from home plate since 1893. Athletes today are bigger, stronger and faster than in generations past, due to human evolution, improved nutrition and superior training methods. So how come 50 years ago pitchers could start every fourth day and throw 250 innings a year and now they start every fifth day and seldom reach 200 innings?
What I'm told is that we've discovered that one-inning relief pitchers can be more effective than tiring starters, plus we now know more about how to maintain pitchers' arm health better.
Fiddlesticks.
Uh, how come Cy Young - yeah, that Cy Young - threw at least 320 innings 15 straight seasons, until he was 38 years old? He was pitching doubleheaders, then going home and throwing a complete game on Wii baseball.
Young finished his career with 7,356 innings in the books; at his current pace, the Nationals' Stephen Strasburg would have to live until he was 137 to reach that total.
So, you say, Cy Young was an anomaly, an overly ambitious uber-achiever whose only goal in life was to have an award named after him. Well, how about these fellas:
n Walter Johnson pitched at least 290 innings 11 straight seasons (1909-19). His arm was so worn out, in 1924 - at age 36 - he threw 277 innings, with a 2.72 ERA, 23-7 record and 1.12 WHIP.
n Grover Cleveland Alexander pitched at least 300 innings the first seven seasons of his career (1911-17). His arm was so worn out, in 1927 - at age 40 - he threw 268 innings, with a 2.52 ERA, 21-10 record and 1.12 WHIP.
n Warren Spahn pitched at least 245 innings 17 straight seasons (1947-63). His arm was so worn out, in 1963 - at age 42 - he threw 259 innings, with a 2.60 ERA, 23-7 record and 1.12 WHIP.
n Don Sutton pitched at least 200 innings the first 15 seasons of his career (1966-80). His arm was so worn out, in 1982 - at age 37 - he threw 249 innings, with a 3.06 ERA, 17-9 record and 1.15 WHIP.
n Steve Carlton pitched at least 230 innings 13 straight seasons (1968-80). His arm was so worn out, in 1982 - at age 37 - he threw 295 innings, with a 3.10 ERA, 23-11 record and 1.15 WHIP.
Ah, but nowadays starting pitchers are delicate flowers, opera divas speaking at a whisper until the curtain goes up. Pitch counts are treated with the gravity of electrocardiogram readings.
Did Dostoyevsky have a word count?
Did Rembrandt have a brushstroke count?
Did Genghis Khan have a conquered-territory count?
Trust me, being an MLB pitcher is not as difficult as, say, being a U.S. president. That's a seven-day-a-week job (minus an occasional round of golf). Do you see POTUSes on a bills limit or a vetoes limit? No. They're signing legislation, nominating justices, meeting prime ministers around the clock (minus an occasional round of golf).
You're telling me a 21st-century pitcher can't pitch 250 innings? Heck, he only works half the year. And the half a year he's working, most of the time he's sitting in the bullpen spitting out sunflower seeds.
I say:
You pitch UNTIL YOUR ARM FALLS OFF. And that's just an expression - your arm is not going to fall off. But if it does, you've got another arm.
Q. Since Pete Rose is banned from baseball for life, can he be elected to the Hall of Fame posthumously? (Tom Agnew; Indianapolis)
A. A fascinating point, sir - you are arguing that his lifetime ban is over upon his death. Would the same premise apply to my divorces?
Q. When the Supreme Court is deadlocked 4 to 4 these days, does Roger Goodell get to cast the deciding vote? (Gene Stallings; Annapolis, Md.)
A. I believe that is his understanding.
Q. You wrote last week that Twitter is "two steps forward and one step backward." Didn't you mean "one step forward and two steps backward"? (R.J. Hanrahan; Seattle)
A. Yes I did.
Q. Does The Slouch ever plan to take his column to the "next level?" (Jack O'Brien; Fairfax, Va.)
A. This is it, pal, and it barely keeps me above sea level.
Q. Vinny Testaverde, Ty Detmer, Johnny Football and now RG3 - is there an escape tunnel from the Heisman House that ends up at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland a la "Hogan's Heroes?" (Laszlo Buda; Toronto)
A. Pay the man, Shirley.
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