141

[cubfan33]

Kerry Wood went 141 pitches today. 141.

Going into the seventh, he'd gone 105 pitches. He had an 11 pitch at bat with Woody Williams, going full, then went full with Fernando Vina. It was brutal, but it's next to impossible to predict that there would be so many foul balls. I'm not sure if we should be blaming Dusty for sending him out in a close game or if there should have been someone warming up and taking him out when he crossed 130, which is predictable since Kerry goes about 18 pitches an inning.

[JamesI]

How can they let him throw that many pitches? Even with a close game, you can't risk Wood's future.

[SmedIndy]

Was he losing velocity? Were there other danger signs?

I'dl be watching his next 3 to 5 starts for sure.

[Rajah]

wow, 141. Given his history, thats especially disturbing. I was at the game, and I didn't realize how many pitches that he had thrown.

[poorme]

i hate the informal 100 pitch count "limit." but 141 is out of hand. especially given his history. i hope people are calling for dusty's job if wood goes down.

[Craig S.]

Not surprising, given Baker's history of this type of behavior. He used to do the same with Russ Ortiz and Livan Hernandez, so I think this was to be expected. I know Wood himself doesn't have a problem with it (the recent BA article had him saying that it all depends on mechanics), but the manager has to know better.

And I can't imagine the Cubs' front office would be too happy with it, either.

[KCBOOMER]

141 pitches is brutal, but did you listen to the talking heads on ESPN raving about Woods showing "leadership" by doing this. It's almost like they can't connect Burnett's injury to overwork.

The next couple of outing had better be easy ones. I know he's much younger than Cone but we can all look back at Cone's 160+ pitch outing to be the end of the line for him.

[Fatwater Fewl]

Cone.... that reminds me .... Anyone remember that Toronto - Boston game in '97 when Cito Gaston left Hentgen in for what seemed like forever? I don't remember the pitch count, but I just looked at Hentgen's career stats at Baseball-Reference and it seems as if it all went to hell for him after that season. It was the second year in a row he threw over 260 innings. His previous highs were 216 in '93 and 200 in '95.

[WiredTiger]

Wait until we see what Dusty does with Wood is his next start. I don't think going to high pitch counts for one game is cause for alarm unless you pitch for the Marlins.

[Whohangs]

Kerry Wood's pitch counts for his 8 starts this year:

88
111
122
104
124
115
116
141

I'm getting a bit frightened. Last night Prior went 124 pitches and Carlos Zambrano has been over 120 pitches twice this year already. I keep hearing the same things about how these guys are big strong pitchers, but it's obvious that that alone doesn't prevent these guys from having arm troubles.

[pathogan]

...Dusty was a genius?BTW,where be the rubber armed men of yore?

[SmedIndy]

Pat - I don't think pitch counts were as high in the past as they are now.

[RedSeat]

121 today. I don't think I'm as concerned about high pitch counts as some here, but this is getting a little extreme.

Of course he sure didn't seem any worse for wear in his first start after the 141.

[SmedIndy]

I'm still waiting for the shoe to drop in June. I hope I'm wrong.

[nyy26wc]

Originally posted by SmedIndy
Pat - I don't think pitch counts were as high in the past as they are now.

According to research from SABR-L, Smed's right.

[Rajah]

Get ready to go nuts...

http://www.suntimes.com/output/telander/cst-spt-rick15.html

I'm kinda curious how ryne duren knew he threw 300 pitches a game if they didn't count how many pitches he was throwing back when he played.

By the way, how long did ryne duren's career last? was he any good? how often was he hurt?

''I didn't have a problem with the 141,'' says Cubs TV analyst Steve Stone, a former big-league star pitcher. ''If Kerry hurts his arm, it won't be because of that.''

ugh

''To me, there is no magic number,'' Stone says. ''Sometimes a guy loses it at 95 pitches, 110, 150. Ryan would still be in the game after 170 pitches. Oh yeah. Because he's still throwing 98 mph.''

I do have to sort of agree with this. some guys do lose it faster than others. but come on. 170?!?!? thats like 20 pitches per inning!

[Tom]

I guess Duren pitched alot of complete game 18 inning stints to get his own pitch count over 300. :D

[SmedIndy]

Right, Ryne...

I think Dalkowski used to throw 200 to 250 pitches, but he was a freak.

[pathogan]

Originally posted by nyy26wc
According to research from SABR-L, Smed's right.

they werent as rubber armed as I thought. wrong again.sigh

[sweaver]

Duren was a hard-throwing, poor-control type the Yankees had a number of in the 1950s. He had some success as a reliever in New York. He only started 32 major league games, so he must be remembering his minor league days.