OT: Edwin Jackson No Hitter

wow. hated to see him go, glad to see him pitch a good one.

That's good for him I liked him in Detroit.....the only question is whether or not his arm is going to fall off...150 pitches holy shit. 

8 walks.  I wonder what the record is for baserunners in a no-hitter?

11 hour long tennis match and a near 150 pitch no-hitter. What a crazy week.

When AJ Burnett threw his for the Marlins, I think he walked 9, and I think there's been no-no's where 10 or more have been walked.

ESPN put up a graphic that shows the most pitches thrown for a no hitter. Jackson's was the highest, followed by Randy Johnson at 138.

Man, no-hitters are so common place these days, hell, even a perfect game isn't a once in a decade occurence anymore. Wake me up when we get a perfect game with 27 strikeouts.

/sarcasm

It''s awesome that he threw a no-hitter... but I think it's even more impressive that he allowed a baserunner per inning and still came away with a shutout.

Also with how many perfect game/no-hitter's this year how many no-no's and/or perfect games does Stephen Strasburg throw in his career?  Without steroids or greenies in the game I feel like barring injury Strasburg could rack up one a year... lol.

149 pitches wow!

That's most pitches I've heard of anyone throwing in my lifetime...(18+ years)

Generally, you want to keep the pitch counts low on the younger guys, and keep an eye on the innings totals of those under age 23. There are mounds of statistical evidence showing a direct correlation between high innings totals under age 23 and arm injuries. That's why the Tigers kept Porcello's IP down last year, and should do so again this year.

Same thing with guys coming out of college. You want a case in point? Kenny Baugh. The Tigers drafted him out of Rice in 2001, and that same summer he pitched his way to AA-Erie, not even 2 months after he was drafted. Shortly after that they discovered that after they drafted him, the jackass that manages Rice's baseball team made him throw 171 pitches in a College World Series game. I'll give you one good guess who showed up the following spring with a dead arm.

Nate Cornejo had the same issue, although with different circumstances. The idiots that ran the Tiger organization saw that he put together a 16-3 minor league record AT AGE 21, also in 2001. They brought him to the majors that season, and he went 4-4 in Detroit. Sure, he won 20 games between the minors and majors, but at a steep cost. He threw 159 IP in the minors that year, and another 42 in Detroit for a total of 201. The year before? 168 at age 20, and 174 at age 19. Guess what happened to his arm?

Keep the innings and pitch counts down on the kids, or you can sit there and sew their arms back together. Your choice. And at the cost of these arms nowadays, I know which one I would choose.

Lincecum also began his career at a later age. At 22 he was drafted, and he threw 31 innings, plus whatever he threw in college. I'll throw out a wild guess of 100-110 innings in college, so he was at 130-140 that year. At 23 he threw a combined 177 innings between the minors and majors. Borderline for that age group, but not excessive.

I would contend that his inning totals were not excessive at a younger age. For some reason 23 seems to be the magic age. I'm not a doctor, so please don't ask me to explain it.

Bob Gibson didn't top 200 IP until age 25. Same with Nolan Ryan and Jack Morris. Whitey Ford did it at 24, and Steve Carlton hit 200 IP in a season at age 23. Sandy Koufax? Age 25. (Thanks, Baseball Reference :D)

Basically, the safest thing major league franchises can do is to keep the innings down (and, theoretically, the pitch counts as well) at young ages, especially under age 23.

As a Rays fan who lives in the Tampa Bay area, I can say that Jackson has broken our hearts on numerous occasions.  The only thing that was different tonight was that he was wearing the opponents' uniform. 

When he pitched here, he would routinely follow a great outing with a putrid one.  When all is said and done, he is a .500 pitcher that teases fans with his "potential" but never fulfills it for more than a few outings at a time.  I am happy to see him get a no-hitter, even against my home team, but I still think both the Tigers and Rays were correct to not keep him around. 

Why are these pitching feats happening more frequently these days?

Is it just a fluke? Is there something driving it?

I've heard people make the argument that the reason passing records in football are being broken so often these days is because QB play has improved dramatically in the past decade. 

Is that what's going on in baseball? Are the pitchers just better?