These pitchers have to realize what their capabilities are, and build up their stamina. I remember it used to be that 300 innings was the benchmark for an ace. If you were a starter, you were expected to pitch at least 250 innings. Now, you may have one guy go 200 innings on your whole staff.Well, yes, but they also have to realize that they're not Nolan Ryan. I can get behind Ryan's general point -- that workloads "should be tailored to the individual" -- but at the same time, it's unrealistic to expect guys to throw 250 innings in the current environment (I didn't say "anymore" because if baseball has shown us anything over the course of its existence, it's that things often change in ways we could not have imagined).
Ryan's message hasn't gone unnoticed by Rangers' manager Ron Washington:
He made suggestions along those lines about pitch counts. So we're trying to keep them out there as long as they can. We have to be smart monitoring what they're doing, but if you got the horses, you can let them go a bit.While GM Jon Daniels offers a slightly different take:
We've encouraged a lot of our (minor league) managers and pitching coaches that they have the flexibility to let their pitchers go past 100 pitches. We're not going to call down there (and complain) as long as they're not putting the pitchers at risk.The phrase "at risk," of course, is open to interpretation. Some would claim that exceeding a predetermined pitch count could place a certain pitcher at risk. Others might have different ideas. And obviously you don't handle, say, Livan Hernandez in the same way that you handle Pedro Martinez.
The more I look at Daniels' quote, the more I love it. Thanks to the caveat "...as long as they're not putting the pitchers at risk," Daniels can respect his boss' wish to loosen the reins in terms of pitch counts while still being able to intervene if needed.
Now that we've got that all figured out, only one question remains: When does Ryan make his first start?