June 12, 2007. Detroit, Michigan. JJ Hardysteps up to the plate, his Brewers trailing 4-0 in the ninth. But today there would not be a Brewercomeback, not with Justin Verlander on the mound. Hardy belts a ball to the track, but Magglio Ordonez isthere to haul it in. Tigerswin. But most importantly,Verlander, at 24 years of age, has pitched the Tigers’ first no-hitter in 23 years.
Fast forward to the present. Justin Verlander leads a somewhat suspect pitching corps ofthe Detroit Tigers. But if youtold him that it was shaky, he’d probably laugh you off.
But Verlander, along with most other young gunslingers,needs to be cautious. Overpitchinghas been an issue in the majors in the past few years, with teams riding theirhot young ace’s arm all the way to the disabled list.
Just ask Kerry Wood. The Chicago Cubs made use of their young star almost immediately, asWood threw for 166.2 innings in his 1998 rookie season. He sat out the 1999 season with tornligaments in his elbow. In hisfourth and fifth season, Wood topped the 200 innings pitched mark.
Enter the injury bug, again. Wood’s arm was so overused that he hasn’t played a fullseason in three seasons. ButDetroit Tigers skipper, Jim Leyland, has not let this bug come anywhere nearhis young ace.
That is until last season. Verlander tossed for 201.2 innings last season. And with this raise in innings came aslight raise in ERA. Leyland hasinsisted to the media that he has kept track of the pitches being thrown by hisyoung pitchers, namely Verlander and Jeremy Bonderman, but everyone gets greedyfrom time to time.
Baseball needs to be able to rest their young prospects andbe careful not to end a career before it even starts. One thing is for certain, however, the kids all got game.
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