February 05, 2008
Injury Risk
Tom Verducci lists seven young pitchers likely to be injured in 2008.
Posted by David Pinto at
03:33 PM
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Pitchers
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I don't think they're *likely* to be injured; rather, they'll likely injury risks if their teams don't handle their workload properly.
The Yankees face a dilemma: their everyday players are (mostly) getting old, which argues for a win-now strategy; but a good chunk of their rotation is in this danger zone. If they're smart, they'll minimize the workloads of Hughes, Chamberlain, and Kennedy, even if it means giving a bunch of starts to the Chase Wrights and Tyler Clippards of the world. With their lineup, they should be able to win their share of high-scoring games and stay in the playoff race (much as they did last year). Then they can work their young hotshots into primary roles late in the season. This would limit their innings to an acceptable level, even if the Yankees go deep into the postseason.
One question for David: if Chamberlain is their #2 bullpen option for the entire season, his total innings won't be high, but he will pitch in a large number of games. Is there any research on the health risks for young pitchers in that situation?
jvwalt, not that I know of. I would worry, however, that it would set him back a year if he wanted to start.