You do know that he has had 4 whole starts in the majors - right? Did it look like he 'ran out of gas' yesterday?
He was getting 4-5 innings per start on average in the minor leagues. The MLB average is 5 innings. It sounds like the Astros developed him like he would pitch in the majors (i.e., it isn't skewed).
This is a weird analysis. How many innings do the successful minor league starters that become 5-inning major league starters pitch while in the minors? I'd think they'd be higher in the minors since they were presumably more successful at that level and not getting pulled as early because they face easier competition.
Minor league pitchers usually are building up innings so lower levels are usually less than majors. Garcia went from lower levels to majors. Other teams have some guys in AA/AAA pitching more than they would as starters in the majors. It doesn't make sense to me to risk bad habits and injuries in the minors having pitchers pitch too much while they are tired. Also, going longer typically means pitchers are saving something for longer outings, and are not training their arms for how they need to pitch in the majors (i.e., max effort). Sure, this works for guys that will be aces, close to it, and innings eaters but the aces are few and far between. Sprinters don't train on marathons. I've never been a pitcher, but have heard
It lets them regulate the innings that young arms throw, while at the same time not limiting themselves wrt how many guys they can develop as starting pitchers.
