I think it's time for Connolly, Z or yourself to research a piece on whether 2008 was the worst for injuries to O's pitching staff, both starters and bullpen. Seriously, how could it not be a record with DL terms, lost seasons, etc? Just add Cabrera to the long list.

Schmucker:
This borders on the unfathomable. The whole load of pitchers we got from Houston all end up with bad arms (Patton, Albers & Sarfate), Adam Loewen is finished with pitching, Jim Johnson was sent home early with arm trouble, George Sherrill misses 6 weeks with arm trouble and still might not be right, Jeremy Guthrie has missed time and should be shut down for the year, Randor Bierd and Jamie Walker spent a considerable amount of time on the disabled list, and now Cabrera is being shut down. That must be some sort of record. Are the Orioles doing something wrong in the way they are using these pitchers, or is it just bad luck, or all of the above?

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Pete's reply: Since Rick Kranitz has not left a trail of injured pitchers at his previous places of employment, I would have to say it's an anomaly, but it certainly is an amazing run of bad luck.

It doesn't matter who is being shut down on this staff. Almost all of them, outside of Guthrie are horrible, clueless, and not prepared to get major league hitters out. I don't know what's going on with this farm system, but the pitchers are being taught virtually nothing. Consider Cabrera being skipped an act of mercy.

Keeping these pitchers on these stupid pitch counts is really paying off. We have more sore arms the last 2 years than they had in the whole 1960's combined. They need to let these pitchers pitch like in the old days. Stop treating them like babies.
Having a pitch count in little league is stupid also. 80 pitches but it doesn't matter if a 12 year old throws 75 curve balls out of the 80. How dumb is that?

also it is down to the last 5 or 6 games, we are going to finish last and why push yourself and take a chance on losing your last start and costing you some money in your next contract.

Thats why I like Guthrie..he wants to pitch.

I'm thinking that there were more reliable pitchers at my kid's T-ball games, get it?

Whatcha gonna do Pete? Whatcha gonna do?

At least this Toronto series looks promising if we can keep answering run for run after blowing a 5 run lead.

See ya at the park.

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Pete's reply: Yes, I get it, especially after Rocky Cherry put that ball on a tee for Alex Rios. And it was a six-run lead, but who's counting.

Who are these people wearing uniforms once worn by Palmer, Flanagan ,MacGregor, Martinez,Barber, Pappas, Wilhelm and many others? These oh so fragile people on this team now have more time on the DL then all the guys I've mentioned combined. Earl would say "get your asses out there and pitch".

Re:Cabrera. Does the O's staff always take a pitcher's word that he is not injured? Cabrera has done zero since the all-star break, his velocity went down, everything stank, but only after public speculation reached a high did he admit to having injuries. Questions: (a) Does anybody ever point out to these idiots that a problem left unattended to will get only worse? (b) Does Bancells ever overrule a pitcher and tell Trembley he thinks there's a problem? (c) Can a team order a player to have a scan or an MRI without the player's permission, or would that trigger a players union lawsuit? Loewen pitched hurt after surgrey and ruined his career. The slim chance that Cabrera would ever repay the team for the years of angst he has caused may well have been erased because of his stupid insistence on pitching with pain. Which brings me to Guthrie. Screw his gamer's mentality and shut him down. What's the IQ of these guys, anyway? The equivalent of a Brian Burress fast ball?

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Pete's reply: The team can't force a player to have a medical test, but I haven't heard of anyone resisting since Cal used to refuse x-rays for various bruises.