H1Man
06-26-2006, 02:59 PM
A tale of two pitch counts
While Miller sits, Nickerson throws ... and throws ... and throws
It was interesting to see the how some of the pitchers were handled this week during the College World Series. I have long been of the belief that some college coaches run their starters into the ground, knowing that once the season ends they are the responsibility of the teams that drafted them.
While that is clearly a cynical view, and for those who know me well -- and not so well -- it's more often than not the view I take, it's difficult to argue with pitch counts that border on silly, in some cases close to 140 per game. That's why I was happy to see the stance North Carolina coach Mike Fox took regarding his ace, Andrew Miller, during and after Saturday night's victory over Oregon State.
Miller, the Tigers' top pick (sixth overall) earlier this month in the First-Year Player Draft, started the game, and while he wasn't the sharpest he's been all season, he was reasonably effective in throwing 77 pitches before rain halted the game in the top of the sixth inning. After a 71-minute delay, the Tar Heels trotted back out onto the field, but Miller sat in the dugout, his arm wrapped in ice.
Fox wasn't about to budge. And down the road, Miller will be better off for it.
"Andrew was out there for 70 minutes and I didn't feel too good about putting him back out there," Fox said. "He has a great future ahead of him and I didn't want to jeopardize that in any way. I didn't think it would be in his best interest."
Miller acknowledged that he was disappointed on not going back into the game -- Oregon State starter Dallas Buck did. But Miller also said he was glad that Fox was looking out for him.
"They really have my best interest at heart," Miller said. "I've seen pitchers get abused in the postseason."
Don't be surprised if the Tigers send Fox a little thank you note at some point in the next week or so.
Depending on how the series played out, Fox said he might go back to Miller out of the bullpen if there was a third game Monday night. He turned to Miller to get the final out last Wednesday against Cal State-Fullerton, and if the situation arises again, who knows?
"We would have to talk about it if we got to that point," Fox said Saturday night. "I think the staff would strongly consider it, but it would all depend. He would definitely want to since he's such a great competitor. This championship is about the kids, but we have to be careful with all our players. Andrew is a talented player."
Whether the Tigers or the Diamondbacks send a thank you note to the folks at OSU remains to be seen. Buck has apparently been pitching with a bad elbow all year and the consensus is that surgery will be required once he signs with Arizona. Mike Rizzo, the Diamondbacks' vice president of scouting, said no such decision has been made. And because the team hasn't been able to talk to Buck, the extent of the injury isn't even known.
Yet Buck keeps pitching and has done so all season. And to throw him back out there after the rain delay seemed like a poor choice. But if it was indeed Buck's last game for OSU, then it seems he was going out on his terms, knowing more about what is wrong with his arm than he's been letting on. Buck is a former football player with a run-through-the-wall mentality, one of the traits Rizzo says is big reason the D-Backs drafted him.
But when I mentioned to one OSU official Saturday night that I was surprised Buck was pitching, considering the state of his arm, he simply shrugged and said he's been doing it all year, adding that "in a few weeks, his arm will be Arizona's property."
Jonah Nickerson, Buck's teammate, also raised a few eyebrows last week when he pitched on two days' rest to beat Rice. He threw 223 pitches in 72 hours, which probably didn't make the Tigers, who drafted him in the seventh round, too happy. When asked what he felt his future employers would say about his decision to ask for the ball last Thursday, Nickerson just smiled.
"The Tigers trust me," he said. "I take care of my body and don't put too much strain on my arm when I pitch. So that's why I was able to come back on short rest."
That's one way of viewing it. Another is Nickerson jeopardized his future for the present. And in the series finale Monday night, it wouldn't have been a surprise if the gutsy Nickerson tried to get back on the mound. At which point Casey should pull a page out of Fox's book and just say no.
http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/app/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060626&content_id=98223&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp
While Miller sits, Nickerson throws ... and throws ... and throws
It was interesting to see the how some of the pitchers were handled this week during the College World Series. I have long been of the belief that some college coaches run their starters into the ground, knowing that once the season ends they are the responsibility of the teams that drafted them.
While that is clearly a cynical view, and for those who know me well -- and not so well -- it's more often than not the view I take, it's difficult to argue with pitch counts that border on silly, in some cases close to 140 per game. That's why I was happy to see the stance North Carolina coach Mike Fox took regarding his ace, Andrew Miller, during and after Saturday night's victory over Oregon State.
Miller, the Tigers' top pick (sixth overall) earlier this month in the First-Year Player Draft, started the game, and while he wasn't the sharpest he's been all season, he was reasonably effective in throwing 77 pitches before rain halted the game in the top of the sixth inning. After a 71-minute delay, the Tar Heels trotted back out onto the field, but Miller sat in the dugout, his arm wrapped in ice.
Fox wasn't about to budge. And down the road, Miller will be better off for it.
"Andrew was out there for 70 minutes and I didn't feel too good about putting him back out there," Fox said. "He has a great future ahead of him and I didn't want to jeopardize that in any way. I didn't think it would be in his best interest."
Miller acknowledged that he was disappointed on not going back into the game -- Oregon State starter Dallas Buck did. But Miller also said he was glad that Fox was looking out for him.
"They really have my best interest at heart," Miller said. "I've seen pitchers get abused in the postseason."
Don't be surprised if the Tigers send Fox a little thank you note at some point in the next week or so.
Depending on how the series played out, Fox said he might go back to Miller out of the bullpen if there was a third game Monday night. He turned to Miller to get the final out last Wednesday against Cal State-Fullerton, and if the situation arises again, who knows?
"We would have to talk about it if we got to that point," Fox said Saturday night. "I think the staff would strongly consider it, but it would all depend. He would definitely want to since he's such a great competitor. This championship is about the kids, but we have to be careful with all our players. Andrew is a talented player."
Whether the Tigers or the Diamondbacks send a thank you note to the folks at OSU remains to be seen. Buck has apparently been pitching with a bad elbow all year and the consensus is that surgery will be required once he signs with Arizona. Mike Rizzo, the Diamondbacks' vice president of scouting, said no such decision has been made. And because the team hasn't been able to talk to Buck, the extent of the injury isn't even known.
Yet Buck keeps pitching and has done so all season. And to throw him back out there after the rain delay seemed like a poor choice. But if it was indeed Buck's last game for OSU, then it seems he was going out on his terms, knowing more about what is wrong with his arm than he's been letting on. Buck is a former football player with a run-through-the-wall mentality, one of the traits Rizzo says is big reason the D-Backs drafted him.
But when I mentioned to one OSU official Saturday night that I was surprised Buck was pitching, considering the state of his arm, he simply shrugged and said he's been doing it all year, adding that "in a few weeks, his arm will be Arizona's property."
Jonah Nickerson, Buck's teammate, also raised a few eyebrows last week when he pitched on two days' rest to beat Rice. He threw 223 pitches in 72 hours, which probably didn't make the Tigers, who drafted him in the seventh round, too happy. When asked what he felt his future employers would say about his decision to ask for the ball last Thursday, Nickerson just smiled.
"The Tigers trust me," he said. "I take care of my body and don't put too much strain on my arm when I pitch. So that's why I was able to come back on short rest."
That's one way of viewing it. Another is Nickerson jeopardized his future for the present. And in the series finale Monday night, it wouldn't have been a surprise if the gutsy Nickerson tried to get back on the mound. At which point Casey should pull a page out of Fox's book and just say no.
http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/app/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060626&content_id=98223&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp