# 4 Days Until Pitchers and Catchers! **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [February 9, 2008, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-days-until-pitchers-and-catchers/436953 "2008-02-09T20:21:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-days-until-pitchers-and-catchers/436953/61 "2008-02-15T19:24:09Z")
Spring training brings April Showers ,sun,warmth and golf. Football is the harbinger of winter. Snow,cold ,cloudy and slushy. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-days-until-pitchers-and-catchers/436953/62 "2008-02-15T19:52:55Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] Yankee Spring Training is apparently going to be 24x7 Clemens & Pettitte. [/QUOTE] That may benefit them. If the media’s yukking it up about two roided-up pitchers they won’t be spending any time bothering Girardi and his other players. Not that I think it bothers the players much anyway. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-days-until-pitchers-and-catchers/436953/63 "2008-02-15T20:21:06Z")
[QUOTE=RickJay] That may benefit them. If the media’s yukking it up about two roided-up pitchers they won’t be spending any time bothering Girardi and his other players. Not that I think it bothers the players much anyway. [/QUOTE] I hope you are right, but I am being selfish. I usually rejoice in Pitchers and Catchers reporting and this story is so overwhelming that even The Daily Show and The Colbert Report spent a lot of time on it. ---
**Author:** ![Hawkeyeop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/958977/32.png) [@Hawkeyeop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hawkeyeop)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-days-until-pitchers-and-catchers/436953/64 "2008-02-15T20:43:09Z")
[QUOTE=RickJay] That is frankly the dumbest idea in the history of the world. They aren’t that stupid. Your analysis is spot on: it makes no sense. [/QUOTE] Worked pretty well for the Dodgers last year with Billingsley. You want Joba to pitch around 140 innings. Making him a setup man means he would only throw about half that. Starting him all year means you have to shut him down early or increase his injury risk. Seems like a good compromise. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-days-until-pitchers-and-catchers/436953/65 "2008-02-15T20:53:54Z")
[QUOTE=Hawkeyeop] Worked pretty well for the Dodgers last year with Billingsley. You want Joba to pitch around 140 innings. Making him a setup man means he would only throw about half that. Starting him all year means you have to shut him down early or increase his injury risk. Seems like a good compromise. [/QUOTE] If Chamberlain’s arm is so fragile that he has to be shut down early in the season just because he wasn’t used as a middle reliever, he is not cut out to be a major league starting pitcher. Pitcher injuries are generally not correlated with pitching too many games, or even too many innings; they correlate with **throwing too many pitches when your arm is tired.** Chamberlain’s arm will be as fine as his natural endurance and mechanics can possibly allow him to be if they’re simply careful with his pitch counts. ---
**Author:** ![Hawkeyeop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/958977/32.png) [@Hawkeyeop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hawkeyeop)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-days-until-pitchers-and-catchers/436953/66 "2008-02-15T21:14:19Z")
Pitching injuries, particularly with pitchers Joba’s age, are generally correlated with pitching. Pitching tired is obviously worse. That is precisely why you limit his innings. He threw about 115 innings last year. Do you really think he can throw 200 without getting tired in September? There have been studies that say upping a young pitcher’s inning count more then 30 innings is very dangerous. The Yankees aren’t to blow Joba’s arm out just to see how tough he is. ---
**Author:** ![Crawlspace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Crawlspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crawlspace)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2008, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-days-until-pitchers-and-catchers/436953/67 "2008-02-16T03:08:38Z")
[QUOTE=RickJay] Pitcher injuries are generally not correlated with pitching too many games, or even too many innings; they correlate with **throwing too many pitches when your arm is tired.** Chamberlain’s arm will be as fine as his natural endurance and mechanics can possibly allow him to be if they’re simply careful with his pitch counts. [/QUOTE] I’m wondering how this relates to my thoughts on how the Yankee’s should handle the pitching staff: they should use a six man rotation. From casual observation, Mussina clearly demonstrated that he can be very effective with a little more rest; Pettite isn’t getting any younger; and if they’re that worried about over extending the young three, the extra day off could do them wonders in rehabbing from the previous start. The only one for whom this doesn’t work so well for is Wang, who, if memory serves, does better on short rest. I say this because the Yankee’s seem to be front loaded with starting pitching and it would seem to be to their advantage to have their starters rested enough to go deeper into the game and minimize middle relief. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2008, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-days-until-pitchers-and-catchers/436953/68 "2008-02-16T15:49:45Z")
Is there anywhere else you can get \*live TV coverage \* of the first day of pitchers’ _workouts_, or is it just in Boston? Yes, I’m serious, it’s \*on \* here. Hey, there’s Beckett jogging around the warning track! Let’s go back and watch that in slo-mo replay! ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2008, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-days-until-pitchers-and-catchers/436953/69 "2008-02-16T18:04:24Z")
[QUOTE=ElvisL1ves] Is there anywhere else you can get \*live TV coverage \* of the first day of pitchers’ _workouts_, or is it just in Boston? Yes, I’m serious, it’s \*on \* here. Hey, there’s Beckett jogging around the warning track! Let’s go back and watch that in slo-mo replay! [/QUOTE] I’m not kidding when I say I envy you. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2008, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-days-until-pitchers-and-catchers/436953/70 "2008-02-16T18:25:59Z")
All we can do is \*watch \* people in skimpy clothes out enjoying the sun, _on TV_. Somebody in SoCal \*envies \* that? ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2008, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-days-until-pitchers-and-catchers/436953/71 "2008-02-16T18:30:58Z")
[QUOTE=ElvisL1ves] All we can do is \*watch \* people in skimpy clothes out enjoying the sun, _on TV_. Somebody in SoCal \*envies \* that? [/QUOTE] Yeah, I go outside and my genitals retreat inside my body like a frightened turtle. In SoCal, there are beaches. You can golf now. We can’t. You envy us?!?!?! Sir, you are _wrong_. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2008, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-days-until-pitchers-and-catchers/436953/72 "2008-02-16T21:43:47Z")
[QUOTE=Least Original User Name Ever] Yeah, I go outside and my genitals retreat inside my body like a frightened turtle. In SoCal, there are beaches. You can golf now. We can’t. You envy us?!?!?! Sir, you are _wrong_. [/QUOTE] I didn’t say I envy _everything_ about you – just your ability to watch some form of baseball _live_ right now. Next year, when the Dodgers move to their Arizona training facility, I’ll be road-tripping this time of year. Yeehaw! ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2008, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-days-until-pitchers-and-catchers/436953/73 "2008-02-16T21:49:19Z")
[QUOTE=Asimovian] I didn’t say I envy _everything_ about you – just your ability to watch some form of baseball _live_ right now. Next year, when the Dodgers move to their Arizona training facility, I’ll be road-tripping this time of year. Yeehaw! [/QUOTE] We want us some baseball right now too, but if the choice is between snow up to your asshole and the beach, I’ll take the beach, even though I get less baseball coverage. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-days-until-pitchers-and-catchers/436953/74 "2008-02-17T03:06:30Z")
[QUOTE=Least Original User Name Ever] We want us some baseball right now too, but if the choice is between snow up to your asshole and the beach, I’ll take the beach, even though I get less baseball coverage. [/QUOTE] That’s just because you don’t know any better. You’d be amazed at how dull and boring having beautiful skies, warm temperatures, surf, sand, desert and mountain play all in one place can get. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-days-until-pitchers-and-catchers/436953.md?page=3)