I’m a SF Giant lifer, and while Robb Nen blew away batters in the 9th with a 95+ fastball and a 93 slider, his arm was hanging by a thread. Unfortunately, when the Giants needed his brilliance the most — in the 2002 World Series — he was on fumes. He gutted out a save in Game 4, but that was it — he was done in Game 5, when the Giants blew a 5-0 lead. He never pitched in another regular season game.

I’m getting the same thrill from watching young Tim Lincecum as I used to get from Nen. Lincecum (who needs a nickname — I nominate “Kid Vicious”) is so far as dominant a pitcher the Giants have had since perhaps Juan Marichal, but he’s on a short leash if he walks batters. The team ain’t going anywhere this year, so if I get less Lincecum now so he’ll be there to pitch a future Game 7, I’m fine with it.

My hope is that Mussina comes to ST and realizes he no longer has the ability to get batters out and retires rather than go through another embarrassing year. The Yankees will not pay any part of his contract to play for another team. The Yankees abhor this idea (see Farnsworth, Kyle). No team would want to assume Mussina’s contract as is coming off the year he is having. There may even be a no-trade clause in the contract.

It is very possible that there will not be a slot for Mussina as a starter next year even at number 5. This is a development worth following next spring.

This “overuse” injury stuff on young pitchers is complete, utter unscientific crap. “Research has shown…” What research? What sample size? What methodology?

This is all front office speak for “let’s cover our ass in case this kid ever gets hurt.”

Bottom line is some guys are injury prone and some guys are not. Tell me how many innings Jim Palmer, Tom Seaver, Roger Clemens and Greg Maddux threw when they were in their early-to-mid 20’s?

This “overuse” injury stuff on young pitchers is complete, utter unscientific bullshit. “Research has shown…” What research? What sample size? What methodology?

This is all front office speak for “let’s cover our ass in case this kid ever gets hurt.”

Bottom line is some guys are injury prone and some guys are not. Tell me how many innings Jim Palmer, Tom Seaver, Roger Clemens and Greg Maddux threw when they were in their early-to-mid 20’s?

- In the 12 games started by Mussina where the Yankees lost: Mussina averages 4.8 IP per start and has an ERA of 8.16.

- In the 10 games started by Mussina where the Yankees won: Mussina averages 6.3 IP per start and has an ERA of 2.57.

And River Aveneu Blues digs deeper into these horrible vs. good starts, and finds that it is a function of the quality of the opponent:

“The ten games in which Mussina has pitched and the Yanks have won came against some pretty woeful teams going through bad stretches. He beat Texas in back-to-back starts in May; he has pitched well in wins against the White Sox twice; he beat the Royals twice; he stifled a pathetic Oakland offense and downed the Devil Rays.

On the flip side, Mussina has gotten shelled by the Red Sox (twice), Angels, Tigers, and, um, the Devil Rays and Orioles. He can’t beat playoff contenders and seems to have problems with teams that have a few good hitters.”

We are stuck with him this year, but he should be mop-up guy if we make the post season. The one great post-season memory I have of MM was his mopping up and keeping us in in the great 2003 Aaron Boone comeback against Pedro.

But for 2008, we should eat half his salry and see if he can be moved to an Division more to his liking. The Cardinals, or Braves for example would be happy to have a 4/5 that can beat the bad teams since that is mostly what they play. We can’t afford 35 starts from him, especially if we have two kids (Joba and PH) in the rotation that will not be called on to picth more than 160 innings each or so.

I was thinking the same thing. Skip Moose on Monday, since everyone can stay on regular rest (more or less) with the off day Thursday. But let’s not get nuts about the guy. If you look at him as our fifth starter, a guy who can beat the dregs of the league and struggles against the top teams, he doesn’t look so bad.

Look at the fifth starters for most teams. They’re not all All-Stars, people.

there are lots of variables in this…starting with the individual, training regimen, type of pitcher, etc. One of the interesting things I’ve seen lately is the pre-emptive TJ surgery. Even though it means taking a year off, pitchers seem to come back stronger, since with “new” ligaments, the pitcher should be better after the surgery than before. I will say though, this is giving more credit than the surgery is due, because of a very disciplined re-hab after surgery that means more than the actual operation.

It’s a strain, not a sprain. Which means there is some tearing of the ligament.