A great article on Kerry Wood

[SL__72]

You should think about basing your posts more around your knowledge and less around your general hostility for everyone who disagrees with you.

And why are you hung up on his prep career? As bad as letting a HS kid throw 175 pitches in a day is, I don't think that played any major role in his eventual downfall. From the sound of it, he was far more overworked in his rookie year and then again in 2003 then he was in HS.

If he was doomed from the start, his mechanics were the biggest problem, no? And pitching so many MLB innings at such a young age has to be 2nd.

[Scary_Tiger]

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Allowing a high school-aged kid to throw 140 pitches in the first place is a huge [censored] deal. You really need to think about how damaging 140 pitches alone is, much less pitching AGAIN in the same day. It is 100% unacceptable.

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Daisuke and a million other pitchers that aren't the wreck Kerry Wood is say hi.

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Do you know anything about the differences in Japanese conditioning as compared to American conditioning? Do you know why Japanese pitchers "can" throw as many pitches as they do? Do you know the rate of flameout for Japanese pitchers as compared to American pitchers?

Tell me, do you know Kerry Wood's history in prep baseball?

You don't know anything. There are specific reasons why Kerry Wood was doomed from the beginning and why some Japanese pitchers (like Daisuke Matsuzaka) can throw as many pitches as they do, and most of it relates to conditioning and the specificity of training.

When you can even come close to answering these questions with any authority, please, let me know.

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To oversimplify greatly, the reason American pitchers struggle with high pitch counts is because they never build up their endurance. They go out and get put on strict 75 pitch limits for their bullpen sessions, and the managers wonder why their pitcher struggles when he subjects him to a work load 140% greater than he's properly prepared. As a result, the pitcher tires, his mechanics slip and he overstresses parts of his body and eventually becomes injured. In Japan, it's not unusual to throw many more pitches in a side session than would likely come up in a game. By having a 150 pitch side session, a pitcher isn't going to struggle with his mechanics and get tired at pitch 120.

The point is, for many pitchers out there, 140 pitches in a game isn't a big deal. Obviously, for a Kerry Wood that was held to 110 pitches pitches in games and likely many fewer on the side, it is a huge deal. The number of pitches thrown isn't important. It's the number of pitches thrown with damaging mechanics.

[MikeyPatriot]

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more e-peen, plz.

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You should think about basing your posts more around your knowledge and less around your general hostility for everyone who disagrees with you.

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QFT

[kyleb]

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And why are you hung up on his prep career?

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I am hostile to you people because you are ignorant of the facts that led to his demise, well put into motion before he was even drafted. He pitched complete games every other day in prep and HS.

He was pitching severely fatigued. This is a big deal for young players with growth plates that are not fully sealed. That's all there is to it. If you are ignorant of these very simple and basic facts, you are an idiot.

I am civil in the first response and less so in remarks afterwards because it's pretty obvious that you both have little idea of what you're talking about, yet adhere to your ideas as if they carry any weight whatsoever.

[antidan444]

In one high school game my paper covered this year, which went nine innings (two extra), the winning pitcher went the distance and threw 151 pitches, the other went eight and threw 141 (and is only a sophomore).

I wanted to skewer the coaches (and probably should have, at least in print).

[NozeCandy]

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It's very disappointing, but I feel much worse for the future superstars who have these injuries BEFORE they sign multi-million dollar contracts. Wood is still financially set for life if he never pitches again.

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God I hate it when people say [censored] like this. Yes, he is set for life. But how happy can he really be when he physically can't do the one thing he was paid all of that for and more than likely wants to do more than anything else? Being rich is one thing. Being accomplished is another, and he was robbed of a chance at that.

[samjjones]

Depressing article. Reminds me of the "Generation K" (Isringhausen/Paul Wilson/Bill Pulsipher) debacles.

[prohornblower]

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It's very disappointing, but I feel much worse for the future superstars who have these injuries BEFORE they sign multi-million dollar contracts. Wood is still financially set for life if he never pitches again.

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God I hate it when people say [censored] like this. Yes, he is set for life. But how happy can he really be when he physically can't do the one thing he was paid all of that for and more than likely wants to do more than anything else? Being rich is one thing. Being accomplished is another, and he was robbed of a chance at that.

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You totally misconstrued what he was saying. Did you even read what he wrote? Or just jump all over him without actually reading the words he typed?

[DesertCat]

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To oversimplify greatly, the reason American pitchers struggle with high pitch counts is because they never build up their endurance. They go out and get put on strict 75 pitch limits for their bullpen sessions, and the managers wonder why their pitcher struggles when he subjects him to a work load 140% greater than he's properly prepared. As a result, the pitcher tires, his mechanics slip and he overstresses parts of his body and eventually becomes injured. In Japan, it's not unusual to throw many more pitches in a side session than would likely come up in a game. By having a 150 pitch side session, a pitcher isn't going to struggle with his mechanics and get tired at pitch 120.

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Is it also possible that Japanese pitchers can take more off their pitches during a game, given the lessor competition, and thus throw more pitches? I know that sounds a little screwy, but let me analogize.

One of the things Bissinger mentions is the "iron horse" pitchers of yesteryear. Is it commonly accepted that it's tougher for today's pitchers to get through each inning (more pitches, more effort) and that's causing fewer complete games? I know we are talking pitch counts, not innings here, but maybe Japanese pitchers can throw more pitches if their league has more batters who can't hit well enough so they can throw with less effort against.

Do Japanese pitchers retain the ability to throw more pitches when they move to the MLB? If not, is it fatigue setting in sooner against tougher hitters, or are american managers and pitching coaches refusing to allow them to reach their japanese level pitch counts?

[Pudge714]

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It's very disappointing, but I feel much worse for the future superstars who have these injuries BEFORE they sign multi-million dollar contracts. Wood is still financially set for life if he never pitches again.

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God I hate it when people say [censored] like this. Yes, he is set for life. But how happy can he really be when he physically can't do the one thing he was paid all of that for and more than likely wants to do more than anything else? Being rich is one thing. Being accomplished is another, and he was robbed of a chance at that.

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Accomplished and Rich > Rich > Neither.