May 24, 2010

Blaming Dusty

Homer Bailey needs to have his shoulder examined, and fingers are starting to point at Dusty Baker:

I’m not sure if Baker is referring to six straight starts of 114+ pitches after the Reds were out it last fall, his 2nd start of the 2010 season, or his 121-pitch start against St. Louis on May 1st. I call it kind of like a surgery waiting to happen.

It’s more like weeding out pitchers who can’t throw 120 pitches in a game. I don’t think it’s the pitch count per se, but given the Baker quote at the link, it seems like Dusty left Bailey in games in which he struggled. That’s exactly when you want to get a young pitcher out of the game, when he gets tired. Struggling at that point may be what hurts arms.

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