Young pitchers have always been watched over very closely. Their arms are important – without them they can’t do their jobs. So managers and teams may chose to limit innings and pull these young guns out of games early because of their pitch counts.
It’s a healthy thing these managers and teams are doing. They are extending a player’s career, especially for a pitcher, who already have a shorter career than the other position players.
The Washington Nationals have chosen to limit their young pitching superstar, Stephen Strasburg, to between 160 and 180 innings. He has just over 140 currently and may be unable to pitch in his scheduled 2-3 final starts, if he pitches every five days. He would probably also be unavailable to pitch in the postseason.
Fans of the Nationals who are watching their team in hopes of remaining at the top of their division against a surging Atlanta Braves team are unhappy. Without Strasburg the Nationals are not the same team. But in my opinion I’d rather have him around for longer in his career – he’s only 24 – than risk him getting hurt to pitch in a one game Wild Card or even in of the division series games.
So Strasburg is more than likely safer sitting on the bench for the last 2-3 starts than ruining his young career.