(Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

Joe Girardi made several mistakes during last Sunday’s game against the Florida Marlins.

First, with $161 million ace CC Sabathia telling him a half dozen times that he was fine, Girardi pulls CC after 1.2 innings due to some biceps fatigue. This was later diagnosed as biceps tendonitis, something that Sabathia said he has experienced during a bullpen session, but never during a game.

Girardi was likely thinking back to 2006 when, as manager of those same Marlins, he allowed Josh Johnson to continue pitching after an 82 minute rain delay*. Johnson ended up having Tommy John surgery in August 2007, and Girardi was blamed by many for that injury.

He was also blamed for the subsequent injury to Anibal Sanchez (labrum) plus overusing the other rookie starters on that squad—Ricky Nolasco and Scott Olsen. Dontrelle Willis hasn't been exactly the same after that season, either.

*I never understood the removal of pitchers when a rain delay has concluded. Don’t the teams have hitting and throwing areas underneath the stands? Why can’t a pitcher continue throwing during the delay? Let’s say a game is delayed after five innings, you are leading 4-1 and your pitcher has thrown 70 pitches.

A nine-inning game takes about 3 hours, which is 30 minutes per inning or 15 minutes each half inning. Have your starter (who, remember, is pitching well with a 4-1 lead), throw about 15 fastballs at 75 percent every 20 minutes or so.

These throwing sessions wouldn’t simulate an inning, but would keep a pitchers arm fresh. They would also keep your best pitcher in the game for a longer period of time.

You can never announce this, however, because according to MLB rules, once a pitcher is in the game, he is not allowed to keep loose during long innings.

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