Ha, not hardly He is at 105 2/3 innings right now, and we have two months left plus playoffs 2012: 26 innings 2013: 104 innings 2014: 97 innings Already at his career high. Now personally, I think pitchers are babied too much and don't think we will see guy develop into the 250 inning bad asses like we used to. But, in the world we live in, the guy has a career high already with a lot of baseball left, so no doubt the main thing here is to limit his innings. I just don't like how the whole roster was put together after the deadline going with a 6 man pen, the way this is going down could have been averted and Fiers could be on the hill tonight instead of Straily
They did not anticipate needing an emergency starter. Had McCullers pitched his usual 6+ innings, this move would not have been made.
Just a guess, but the only thing that makes sense to me is that there is some physical reason Lowrie shouldn't play 1st.
this isn't about the one game. it's about total innings pitched. The Astros have been saying this was coming for a little while now.
But it would still make sense IMO to keep one in the major league and the other in the minors. Especially since they are trying to get Vince to pitch more and McCullers to pitch less.
If this isn't strategy to get Straily in for the one spot start because Fiers is not available, then I'm severely disappointed. McCullers has been as good as anyone and we got one shot at this. Pitch 'em. If you want to rest him for a week ok. But let's not limit his innings and baby like the Nationals did with Strasburg. We are a world series threat this year and McCullers is a winner.
They are surely limiting his innings. But they're doing it differently from Strasburg. Instead of pitching him until he's done, they're doing this to stagger him so that he CAN pitching the playoffs...precisely because they realize he "is a winner" as you say
A lot of people posting in this thread who clearly haven't been paying very good attention. The team said this was gonna, and we all knew this was gonna happen, this should hardly come as a shock. Every inning he pitches now is uncharted territory for his arm, if we want him available in October something along these lines had to happen. There's no need to have an inactive pitcher wasting a roster spot.
If his future is as a starter he needs to get his innings up. He goes from a 100 innings to 150 innings to 200 etc. It also doesn't sound like they are shutting him down. If they are shutting him down at a 100 innings he should not be a starting pitcher which makes me think something else is going on.
Oh holy ****. 1. He is a future starter 2. He is getting his innings "up" 3. He will pitch over 150 innings this year 4. They are not shutting him down 5. There is nothing else going on.
I think it is about one game and that's because we had to waste tonight's starter. I don't think he's optioned if Fiers isn't required last night. It has nothing to do specifically with his performance, just who they had to use to replace him for more than one inning at a time.
Luhnow said in a radio interview recently that saving any innings now just adds to the number he and VV will be able to pitch in September/October. They're thinking long-term about this and being careful....nothing more IMO.
Threads like this actually make me long for the cricket-chirping days where this section of the board was virtually invisible.
Maybe, but the fact is that if McCullers wasn't starting, he really had no role on the team. They are being protective of his arm, so he wasn't gonna be used as an emergency long man. Nor was he gonna be used as a traditional reliever. It just makes more sense for him to be in the minors, where we can get him work however we see fit and not wasting a roster spot waiting for just the perfect situation to present itself in a pennant chase.
