Quote Originally Posted by travman23 View Post
I tell you what though, CC has been pretty good since the trade but I hate to be whoever signs him in the offseason because the Brewers are getting every inning they can out of him while they have him.

In 18 games with the Indians he averaged just over 7 innings a game. With the Brewers 8 innings a games, 6 of those 11 games he pitched all 9 innings. His pitch count about 112 per game, with the Indians about 108 per game and just 2 complete games. He has the 2nd most innings pitched behind Roy Halladay in all of MLB, just hope his arm doesn't fall off next season if the Brewers continue to work him as hard as they have.

Lou has been very careful with his pitching staff and I think with the injury histories some of them have had it should hopefully help come playoff time and also not risk injury that could hurt their performance in 2009. Dempster has the most innings pitched on the staff which is tied for 23rd in MLB. Lilly is 27th, Zambrano 35th, Marquis 86th, and Harden 103rd. Granted Z had a stint on the DL, Marquis has a tough time making it to or past the 6th inning usually, and Harden had a 1 month stint on the DL but also both Oakland and Chicago have been careful not to over-use him and limit his pitch counts. Harden has only topped 100+ pitches 8 times this season and only pitched 8 innings once which was a 96 pitch 2 hit shutout with the A's in June. I think once he proves his durability he'ss go deeper into games, especially in the playoffs but the Cubs aren't going to over-use him now and risk being without possibly their best pitcher at the moment in the playoffs. I know the Brewers are still hoping to make a push for the pennant but they also have a 5.5 game lead in the Wild Card so is it really necessary to be pitching your ace in 7-0 blowouts? The games CC has gone 9 innnings with the Brewers and the score and his pitch count:

7-0 117
9-3 130
5-0 103
3-0 106
9-1 110
3-2 122

I'd say only 2 of those games (the 3-0 and 3-2) you can make a case their bullpen sucks and you leave him in but pitching 130 pitches in a 9-3 game is stupid or leaving him in a 9-1 and 7-0 blowout. I'm sure Yost knows if they miss the playoffs this year he's a goner but also over-using your best pitchers is never a good idea either.
That's a real solid point. He could end up with more than a tired arm, which would really be a shame for him, the Brewers, and the next team.
I hope they're not pushing him too hard.