POD for Sunday-Monday

My Pitch Or Ditch Stats, 12 Team 5×5 Mixed
541 IP —- 3.87 ERA —- 1.29 WHIP —– 7.1 K/9 —– 35 Wins

By davekemp on September 13, 2008 9:17 AM - Reply

Has anyone else noticed the unbelievable usage pattern of Tim Lincecum his last two times out? In worthless games, outside of Cy Young considerations, Lincecum was allowed to throw 127 and 138 pitches in consecutive starts. True, he did net two wins and his first career CGSHO, but at what cost? According to Baseball Prospectus’ Pitcher Abuse Points, Lincecum has racked up almost 170,000 this year, by far the most in the bigs. To put that in perspective, often abused CC Sabathia has 100,000 and Justin Verlander has 75,000, good for second and third place, respectively. Also, Will Carroll often mentions what he calls the Verducci Effect, which suggests that increases of 30 IP in pitcher workload are sustainable from one year to the next. Bad things usually happen if that is surpassed. As of last night, Lincecum is now a full 60 major league innings above what he threw last year, though he did pitch about 30 minor league innings last year, too (I do agree with Mike Siano that minor league innings don’t equate with MLB innings in terms of the toll on an arm, though). So, can I send a keeper league insurance claim to Bruce Bochy for his reckless use of perhaps the most exciting pitcher in the majors? I have Tiny Tim for $10 in a $280 NL-only league and could extend him beyond next year, but with the way Bochy treats him, I think I’ll let him play out his contract next year and lose him at the end of the season. Gary Huckabay at BP wrote a great screed about Lincecum’s overuse on the free portion of their site, too. Instead of being overjoyed about Lincecum’s results from the last couple of games, as a fantasy owner and, more importantly, as a baseball fan, I’m angry. Anybody else?
Dave in Delaware

By damiller@standrews-de.org on September 15, 2008 12:15 AM - Reply

Has anyone else noticed the unbelievable usage pattern of Tim Lincecum his last two times out? In worthless games, outside of Cy Young considerations, Lincecum was allowed to throw 127 and 138 pitches in consecutive starts. True, he did net two wins and his first career CGSHO, but at what cost? According to Baseball Prospectus’ Pitcher Abuse Points, Lincecum has racked up almost 170,000 this year, by far the most in the bigs. To put that in perspective, often abused CC Sabathia has 100,000 and Justin Verlander has 75,000, good for second and third place, respectively. Also, Will Carroll often mentions what he calls the Verducci Effect, which suggests that increases of 30 IP in pitcher workload are sustainable from one year to the next. Bad things usually happen if that is surpassed. As of last night, Lincecum is now a full 60 major league innings above what he threw last year, though he did pitch about 30 minor league innings last year, too (I do agree with Mike Siano that minor league innings don’t equate with MLB innings in terms of the toll on an arm, though). So, can I send a keeper league insurance claim to Bruce Bochy for his reckless use of perhaps the most exciting pitcher in the majors? I have Tiny Tim for $10 in a $280 NL-only league and could extend him beyond next year, but with the way Bochy treats him, I think I’ll let him play out his contract next year and lose him at the end of the season. Gary Huckabay at BP wrote a great screed about Lincecum’s overuse on the free portion of their site, too. Instead of being overjoyed about Lincecum’s results from the last couple of games, as a fantasy owner and, more importantly, as a baseball fan, I’m angry. Anybody else?
Dave in Delaware

By damiller@standrews-de.org on September 15, 2008 12:19 AM - Reply