If you’re talking about the NFL’s concussion policies, concussions are extremely serious business and if anything the NFL doesn’t do enough about them. Read up on the former NFL players whose lives have been destroyed by progressive brain damage — remember Justin Strelczyk, Mike Webster, and Terry Long, just from the Steelers.

If that’s not what you’re talking about, sorry, but then I’m not sure what you mean.

Pitchers younger than 25 should and do have their innings monitored. You’ve heard of the Verducci effect, correct?

…the incredible investment that teams make in their star pitchers. There are few, if any, injuries to position players that are as devastating in length and severity as those requiring TJ surgery, or, heaven forbid, a rotator cuff injury. While pitchers do come back from TJ surgery and are able to have a modicum of success, having that type of gigantic hole in the rotation as well as sucking up payroll can be crippling to a franchise.

Bob Walk, that well-known hater of all things post-1900, went on one of his typical “crazy old guy on the porch” rants this past Sunday about David Price being pulled from a game against the Blue Jays, a game in which Price had posted 14 Ks in 7 innings. Bitter Bob railed against “pitch counts”, wondering why Price wasn’t allowed to go back out and finish the game, since he was being so dominant.

David Price is 26 years old and one of the rising pitching stars in the league, on track for two consecutive 200 innings pitched seasons; he finished 2nd in the Cy Young voting in 2010. He has a WHIP of 1.10 this season, and a K:BB rate of almost 4:1 (actual is 3.91:1), and although his ERA+ is only 106, BBREF has him with a WAR of 3.5 . In the actual game in question, Price had already thrown 114 pitches in the game and was leaving with a 6-0 lead (on the way to a 12-0 Rays win, as they put up 6 runs in the top of the ninth).

The Rays are currently 7.5 games back in the Wild Card race, so barring a collapse of monumental proportions from either Boston or New York, they will not be making the playoffs this season. Why risk getting this kid hurt in what is essentially a meaningless game in late August, when he means so much to your franchise and hopefully will for years to come?

I would guess that the training and medical staff in DC is better than the one in their AAA affiliate. On the other hand, some argue (too lazy to look right now) that the high stress innings are the ones that really effect pitchers, not the short ones. In the MLB he should have more high stress innings just because the level of batter he faces is much better.

and it will surely help attendance.