Not even a tight USA Hockey victory over Switzerland today could raise spirits from another blah day from this blah time of year. It leaves us forced to react to things that under the normal run of things, wouldn't matter in the least. Since this isn't the normal run of things, we must magnify the minutia that comes from Spring Training. The first piece that caught The Beard's eye was this one from the Tribune. Apparently former Cubs, and current Washington Nationals manager Jim Riggleman has been carrying around a big bag of self-imposed guilt for overworking Kerry Wood too much his rookie year of 1998. To the point where Wood responded in kind by saying that Wood's subsequent injuries weren't Riggleman's fault in the least, and that bad mechanics and a stubborn attitude on his part at the time were much more to blame.
Like Wood, I also found this pretty perplexing because I never heard that Riggleman was to blame for Wood's constant injury breakdowns. At first glance, I always though it was understood that a man whose name rhymes with Dusty Baker was much more guilty of over-working Wood, therefore more responsible for Wood's injuries and "transformation" to Closer, so I decided to check it out...
In 1998, Wood made 26 starts. Of those 26 starts he threw over 120 pitches in a game 8 times or 31 % of his starts. In spring training 1999, he underwent the dreaded Tommy John surgery and missed the entire season. So there is the connection that Riggleman made to trigger his guilt. However, a closer look at Wood's career shows some interesting stats.
2000: 23 starts, threw over 120 pitches 2 times (9%).
2001: 28 starts, threw over 120 pitches 1 time (4%).
2002: 33 starts, threw over 120 pitches 2 times (6%).
Enter "Dusty We Trusty"
2003: 32 starts, threw over 120 pitches 13 times (141 pitches against the Cardinals on 5/10! 41%)
2004: 7 starts until he went on the DL for a strained triceps, makes another 15 after that. He threw over 120 pitches 3 times (14%).
2005: Makes 10 more starts, doesn't go over 120 pitches once, and appears as a reliever in his last 11 appearances.
2006: Makes 4 starts, doesn't throw over 86 pitches, and manages to go on the DL two times including once for falling out of a hot tub.
2007: Dusty is fired, and Wood becomes a reliever the rest of his career.
So take it easy on yourself Jim Riggleman. The man to blame is now in charge of ruining even more live arms named Aroldis Chapman, and Edinson Volquez in Cincinnati.
Yeah that's all Dusty. Nice stats you threw out there Danimal.
ReplyDeleteHere's another little nugget for you. In 90 career starts, Lincecum has thrown over 120 pitches 9 times. I know it's apples and oranges but that's roughly the same pace Wood was on. Shows what a difference good mechanics (and apparently weed) make.
ReplyDelete