EagleOutsider.com

On his podcast this week, Keith Law called out Mik Aoki for what he called the disgusting overuse of college pitchers. He specifically cited Belfiore's 9 inning appearance in extras against Texas in the NCAAs (from which he claims he's never truly recovered) and a kid he recently ran into the ground at ND. Went as far as to say it's clear he doesn't care a thing about the kids he coaches.

Christ, Keith Law needs to STFU.

My recollection is that the Texas pitcher is the one who had a pitch count nearing 200 in that game.

Correct

http://deadspin.com/5277374/austin-wood-and-the-pitch+count-question

P&S, this idiotic ranting of Law's is old news - this all came up in 09 according to the Deadspin article.

he was showing a pattern for these coaches tedwardo

and law's right, these coaches (and a lof of them do it) running their pitchers out for 130+ pitches is a joke

claver2010 {l Wrote}:he was showing a pattern for these coaches tedwardo

and law's right, these coaches (and a lof of them do it) running their pitchers out for 130+ pitches is a joke

Good pitchers with good mechanics should be throwing a lot of pitches. Law is a fucking idiot (on this and most other things).

I would guess that most in college don't have good mechanics though, as that is generally one of the first things teams change after drafting pitchers.

flyingelvii {l Wrote}:I would guess that most in college don't have good mechanics though, as that is generally one of the first things teams change after drafting pitchers.

Then criticize them for being shitty at coaching pitching, not making them throw too many pitches.

The game went 25 innings, both teams had played the previous day and knew whoever lost would have to play again the following day. There are only so many pitchers on a roster, WTF were the coaches supposed to do??

And BS that Belfiore never recovered from that game....arm/shoulder muscles are no different than any other muscles in the human body, they heal from overuse. I'm sure he needed longer than he normally would have, but still. And Texas finished runner-up in the tournament that year so obviously it didn't devastate their pitching staff.

twballgame9 {l Wrote}:

claver2010 {l Wrote}:he was showing a pattern for these coaches tedwardo

and law's right, these coaches (and a lof of them do it) running their pitchers out for 130+ pitches is a joke

Good pitchers with good mechanics should be throwing a lot of pitches. Law is a fucking idiot (on this and most other things).

Pitchers who were limited to 1 inning outings for years shouldn't throw 9+ innings in 1 game

claver2010 {l Wrote}:

twballgame9 {l Wrote}:

claver2010 {l Wrote}:he was showing a pattern for these coaches tedwardo

and law's right, these coaches (and a lof of them do it) running their pitchers out for 130+ pitches is a joke

Good pitchers with good mechanics should be throwing a lot of pitches. Law is a fucking idiot (on this and most other things).

Pitchers who were limited to 1 inning outings for years shouldn't throw 9+ innings in 1 game

If the only pitches that he threw all season were in games, then yes, it is a travesty that a guy that probably has 20-30 innings and thus only threw 300-450 pitches all season would be asked to throw 130.

Note the sarcasm.

PhillyandBCEagles {l Wrote}:The game went 25 innings, both teams had played the previous day and knew whoever lost would have to play again the following day. There are only so many pitchers on a roster, WTF were the coaches supposed to do??

And BS that Belfiore never recovered from that game....arm/shoulder muscles are no different than any other muscles in the human body, they heal from overuse. I'm sure he needed longer than he normally would have, but still. And Texas finished runner-up in the tournament that year so obviously it didn't devastate their pitching staff.

Furthermore, there is as much of an underdevelopment problem as there is an overuse problem in pitching.

The idea that there is a limited number of pitches in an arm over the course of a lifetime, and that you use them up, is idiotic. Throwing is like training any other muscle - you should be doing frequent reps at less weight to build strength. Problem has more to do with this generation being a bunch of throwers instead of pitchers and they have no ability to gear down.

It is nice to throw 95 mph, but it is utterly unnecessary if you know how to pitch. Unfortunately, too many pitchers think that is pitching.

twballgame9 {l Wrote}:

claver2010 {l Wrote}:he was showing a pattern for these coaches tedwardo

and law's right, these coaches (and a lof of them do it) running their pitchers out for 130+ pitches is a joke

Good pitchers with good mechanics should be throwing a lot of pitches. Law is a fucking idiot (on this and most other things).

The one place where Law is very good is Phoenix-area restaurants. When I was in Phoenix my brother-in-law, who is a big Law fan, asked him on Twitter for some restaurant recommendations and he really came through. Otherwise, he is dumb.

twballgame9 {l Wrote}:

flyingelvii {l Wrote}:I would guess that most in college don't have good mechanics though, as that is generally one of the first things teams change after drafting pitchers.

Then criticize them for being shitty at coaching pitching, not making them throw too many pitches.

They don't have to be mutually exclusive. I can criticize for coaching shitty mechanics and putting him out there for too many pitches with shitty mechanics, especially when said pitcher in question throws a slider, and making him more susceptible to injury. Which is what I'm implying.

flyingelvii {l Wrote}:

twballgame9 {l Wrote}:

flyingelvii {l Wrote}:I would guess that most in college don't have good mechanics though, as that is generally one of the first things teams change after drafting pitchers.

Then criticize them for being shitty at coaching pitching, not making them throw too many pitches.

They don't have to be mutually exclusive. I can criticize for coaching shitty mechanics and putting him out there for too many pitches with shitty mechanics, especially when said pitcher in question throws a slider, and making him more susceptible to injury. Which is what I'm implying.

Fair enough. I'd also note that my objection is to Law's broad sweeping and generic comments about pitch counts, and not to a specific gripe about that one game or about abusing pitchers in general.

Real pitcher abuse exists, and it happens frequently on the major league level. Often it has more to do with frequency of use and lack of rest rather than number of pitches. Keith Foulke is looking at you, Terry Francona. A number of guys whose names you no longer remember but once made 83 appearances are looking at you, Joe Torre.

As of last August, Law was pimping Trout for MVP so hard that he left the soon to be triple crown winner out of his top 5. He once left Chris Carpenter off his ballot for Cy Young despite a 17-4 record and a 2.24 era and a 1.01 whip because Javy Vasquez threw 27 more innings. Guy is an ass clown.