Thole (naturally after an 18 inning game) and LaRoche in the lineup today.

And Thad Weber up, Lincoln optioned to Buffalo.

Thad Weber was today's scheduled starter and threw 75 pitches on June 4th. He's the perfect bridge to Darren Oliver considering the length of yesterday's game.

The Jays have also announced that Oliver will come up tomorrow, so presumably Weber will be sent down after today's game.

Perez is out of options, so I'll wager that the Jays try to keep him in the bullpen for a while longer. McGowan, too, is out of options. Wagner, meanwhile, has two options and could be safely sent down, but he's pitched so brilliantly that I'm sure he'll stay for a while too.

As long as Rogers and Wang are in the rotation, the Jays will probably stick with an 8-man bullpen. But when Morrow returns to the rotation, there will need to be a decision on who stays and who goes. For now, however, it's a strong bullpen.

Sorry, one correction: the decision point will come when Wang needs to be added to the roster on Tuesday. The Jays will have to decide whether to demote a position player (LaRoche?) or a reliever. And of the non-core relievers, Wagner is the only one who could be sent down on Tuesday without being lost. So it could be a tough decision. Lawrie is nowhere close to returning, so LaRoche could be useful. But an 8-man bullpen is probably essential as long as Rogers and Wang are in the rotation.

Lincoln was sent down despite his great 4.0 IP, because he's not able to pitch the next few days.   Chances are he's a Starter now in AAA (that's useful).   Thad Weber is the only multi-inning guy available, so Johnson needs to Pitch late into this game (9.0 IP would be nice) to allow the Bullpen some rest.  

So I assume that Brett Cecil the closer du jour? Gibbons has used Janssen on consecutive days just twice this season, and that was after throwing 15 pitches and 10 pitches. (He threw 24 yesterday.)

No choice but to put Thole and Laroche in. In theory, they hit ahead of Boni because of his speed...

Grimm was having a nice season until last Tuesday.

Josh Johnson's last complete game was in April 2010. Relievers will probably be needed.

I'll take Wagner in the closer pool.

Johnson somehow ends up going the route after throwing 35 pitches (or whatever) in the first inning...

Wagner in the closer pool.

He did pitch just two-thirds of an inning yesterday. Gibbons has never liked using a reliever on three consecutive days, but both Wagner and Cecil worked the last two days. So did Delabar, come to think of it. So someone's going to have to do it. Cecil threw 15 pitches over his two days, Wagner threw 32, Delabar 33.

As for Texas, Joe Nathan didn't even get into yesterday's game but Washington had him get up so often in the pen (at least four times) that I have to wonder how he's feeling today.

Like a battered wife, I'm starting to fall back in love with Lind.

Maybe he makes an exception just this once because of the blown save yesterday, and gets Janssen back on the horse...

Thad Weber, come on down

Morris is ranting, and I don't blame him, about Johnson nibbling. But I don't think he's really nibbling, I think he just doesn't have much command today.

Thad Weber, come on down

Get loose, you're next.

1 run lead and we badly need some effective mop up innings.

Big test for Juan Perez. If he screws this up he might never see the major leagues ever again.

#FreeJPA? I kid.

Where are all the Josh Thole loves now? His defense is a lot worse than JPs

His defense is a lot worse than JPs

You're basing this on one throw? Seriously?

"Big test for Juan Perez. If he screws this up he might never see the major leagues ever again."

Lots of melodrama here today!

Sorry, i forgot that Thole throws out runners at a 20% clip.

The JPA hate is definitely a little silly. And Thole is no lock to be any better, in any facet of the game.

I'm just glad the useless Blanco is gone, and we have two youngish catchers with good minor league numbers, some major league success, and complimentary skillsets to share the job, put each other in better situational opportunities, and fight for at bats. Gives us a decent shot at getting solid production from the C spot.

Over his MLB career, Thole has thrown 25% of runners attempting to steal. Not as good as Arencibia, true - JPA has thrown out 26%.

"Lots of melodrama here today!"

Perez is 35 and has 35ip in MLB. Most likely will be sent down either way with Oliver and Wang coming in.

He's opened a few eyes with his first couple of performances, but if he ruins that good feeling with a stinker in his first high leverage outing, he might fall well down the list of future call ups for the Jays, and without exaggerating he may never get another chance from any team.

Well, as long as we're looking at tiny samples, we can say that Thole is walking at a higher rate than JPA anyway.....

he may never get another chance from any team.

He throws in the low 90s, and he allowed 3 baserunners in his first 6.2 IP here. He's shown people something. As long as he stays left-handed, I don't think the end is nigh.

we can say that Thole is walking at a higher rate than JPA anyway

They're tied for June!

I would be shocked, surprised - utterly gobsmacked! - if Thole went and seized the first string job. But he should be a much better compliment to Arencibia than Blanco. It's curious that Thole does the things that Arencibia doesn't do (take a walk, get a few base hits) and Arencibia does the things that Thole doesn't do (hit home runs.) Way too soon to say anything about how their defense compares. Thole looks like a smoother receiver of pitches, which is odd (he's the converted first baseman.) There's no evidence either of them throw particularly well, but I don't care too much about that anyway.

his first high leverage outing

Hang on - yesterday wasn't high leverage? Bases loaded, one out, tie game in extra innings?

nice work by Perez, again. guess it won't be his last chance.

"Hang on - yesterday wasn't high leverage? Bases loaded, one out, tie game in extra innings?"

it was, you're right. but then again every reliever was used in a high leverage situation last night. he did induce a flyball which was pretty good, but the throw by Bautista did get them all off the hook there a bit.

I yelled "NO!" as soon as Thole let go the ball. I haven't had the chance to see the play in slo mo, but the decision to throw seemed as bad as the throw itself.

the decision to throw seemed as bad as the throw itself.

On the stolen base-error? A really good throw (not that I know if Thole actually has that in his repertoire) had a chance to get the guy. That was nothing like Arencibia's bad Derek Jeter imitation in San Diego.

Bautista picks up the torch from Lawrie, throws a silly tantrum.

Why would you bunt with Melky when you have Bautista and Encarnacion coming up?

Agree with Magpie. The BaTantrum was pointless and unprofessional.

I agree with JB21 that the bunt was the wrong play, but for a different reason -- I wouldn't play for the tie given the exhausted bullpen.

How is the JPA hate silly? He's hitting .220/.240/.436. (So I guess he has a good ISO?) And he fails to make up for his mediocre hitting with anything resembling good defense.

How many times do they get runners on 1st and 2nd with none, one or two out and do NOTHING?

I was listening in the 9th inning, so went back to watch the proceedings.  The Bautista at-bat was a low moment.  The first pitch was marginal, but a strike.  Any reasonable person would have said OK, I've got two more to play with.  Instead, Bautista got upset and said something to umpire and proceeded to offer at a pitch way inside.  He may very well have laid off that pitch if he had kept his cool.  He then struck out swinging and went after the umpire.  Time to have a look at the man in the mirror, Jose.

As for the Cabrera sac  bunt, that was an interesting strategic decision.  It really turns on how likely it is that Cabrera would hit into the GIDP off Nathan.  I don't think that is very likely.  Cabrera doesn't ground into too many, and Nathan is a fly-ball pitcher. I probably wouldn't have called for the sac, but I can understand why one might.  It is actually the same call as down a run with a runner on 1st, but somehow I think psychologically that the prospect of advancing two runners might have factored into Gibbons' thinking.

I don't agree with the usage of McGowan so far.  He struggled mightily for his control in the minors, walking 6 in 9 innings in Buffalo on the way to an ERA of 7.  I'd start him off in low leverage work, let him get comfortable and then if he is succeeding, move him.  Down a run late doesn't qualify and especially after being thrown into extra innings the day before.  Cecil had thrown 8 easy pitches on Saturday, and was, if anything, better rested than McGowan. 

How many times do they get runners on 1st and 2nd with none, one or two out and do NOTHING?

With men on base, the Jays are 8th in the AL in wRC+ (100), in other words, exactly middle of the pack. Their .256 BA is 8th as well.

"On the stolen base-error? A really good throw (not that I know if Thole actually has that in his repertoire) had a chance to get the guy. That was nothing like Arencibia's bad Derek Jeter imitation in San Diego."

I finally did see the replay which was up on the Texas MLB site for a while. The throw, even if it had been on line, would not have gotten Gentry and FWIW the Texas announcer said Thole should have held on to the ball. And pretty well every bad decision this year pales in comparison to JPA's Jeter throw, but it doesn't make them good decisions.

Just thought I'd check leverage for a few guys...  Generally 0.75-1.25 is 'normal', 1.25-1.75 is 'high' and beyond that is 'extreme' while below 0.75 is low.  0's are generally 10 run blowouts, 10 is the highest possible I think but I've never seen one anywhere near that.

Perez: his leverages were 1.01 (average), 1.97 (high), and 2.88 (extremely high).  Today's would be over 1 but under 2 I suspect.
Wagner: 1 average, 3 low, and 2 extreme (3.09 and 3.38) plus today's which would be high (7th inning of a tie game).
Janssen: closer - 1 in the 4's, 1 in the 3's, 4 in the 2's (all very high leverage - ideal for a closer, just once blew it), 5 in the 1.5 to 2 range (1 blown), 7 in the 'normal' range (one bad game but just changed from winning by 4 to winning by 2), 2 in the 'so what' range (sub 0.50).

So Wagner has seen 2 of 6 in the super pressure time (33%) while Janssen has had 6 way up there out of 20 = 30%.  Today was the first time Wagner had any issues (solo HR) so I'd say he might be viewed as a 'Duane Ward' type to Janssen's Henke almost.  Scary that a guy signed as a minor league free agent could become that so quickly but it does seem that way right now.  Perez also has been trusted far more than one would expect and that unearned run today was the first blemish.

Of course, part of that trust is due to the crazy length of games lately and the need to use any live arm you can find.  This was Wagner's 3rd straight game pitching and Perez threw 29 yesterday after a week off.  I am shocked Weber was left out of the game as long as he was - the pen was drained after last night, Wagner and Perez included, thus the fresh Weber should've been first guy out unless it was the 8th/9th of a tight game.  In the 6th even in a 1 run game you gotta use him given how drained everyone was.  McGowan made sense in some respects, but this is a guy who is as fragile as glass and using him 2 days in a row is playing with fire.  Cecil threw under 10 pitches the last two games so should've been available for an inning.  Normally I trust Gibbons bullpen management but today was weird.

"....I'd start him off in low leverage work.... Cecil had thrown 8 easy pitches on Saturday, and was, if anything, better rested than McGowan...."

It's amazing the way people have already forgotten the longest game in Jays history, and the toll that it takes on a bullpen.

There hasn't been a single "low-leverage" inning available since McGowan's arrival. So you're basically asking for McGowan to ride the bench while other relievers throw multiple innings or multiple consecutive days.

You can't say that Cecil was "rested" after an "easy" outing. Cecil had pitched an inning on Friday and an inning on Saturday, and he's on pace for an 85-inning season. It's understandable that Gibbons would be reluctant to use him on 3 consecutive games. Few relievers these days are asked to pitch on 3 consecutive days, especially when their seasonal usage is already high.

It's hardly the fault of Gibbons that his starter lasted only 5 innings on Sunday after the bullpen had gone 11 grueling innings just a few hours earlier. Gibbons was in a lose-lose situation, no matter which reliever he chose. He had to hold Weber in reserve in case the game went into extra innings, so he had to choose a reliever who had already pitched on Saturday. You could see his dilemma when he was already forced to insert one reliever (Wagner) who was pitching for a 3rd consecutive day.

As for McGowan: he's pitched back-to-back games in the minors, more than once, in recent weeks. I don't find it unreasonable that he would be asked to do this again, when every other reliever has pitched multiple innings in the past couple days. (And let's be thankful that the Jays had an 8-man bullpen rather than the 7-man pen that some people want to strictly impose for an entire season.)

One more point: while we like to quibble about bullpen usage, we as fans don't actually know who is available on any given day. Janssen's health, for example, is so dodgy that he has to tell Gibbons whether he is available or not, in advance of every single game. And here's a recent quote from Anthopoulos about how the Jays prefer not to advertise the availability of their pitchers and hitters on any given day:

“There are lot of times we don’t tell the other team (and the media) if someone’s down in the bullpen that day, or someone can’t go because their quad or their hamstring is tight...."

It's not a quibble, CF.  The organization has had a general pitcher usage problem this year, repeatedly asking pitchers to do more than they ought to.  Yes, it's a tough situation after an 18 inning game, but there were better options. Even Weber in the 8th (and 9th, if necessary) would have been a better choice.  The reason this is important is that I actually think that McGowan could be a very good high leverage reliever once he gets his bearings. 

Incidentally, McGowan was quoted as saying that he still wants to get back to starting.  Boy. I guess he's one of those young men who has to keep climbing the tree and falling down.

My issue is you have Weber who was called up to eat innings.  That is all he was called up for - to eat as many innings as humanly possible so the 'real' relievers aren't stressed.  So what happens? He is left in then pen until the 9th inning while 3 guys who were used the day before get mixed in.  McGowan being used seemed especially crazy as he is a MAJOR injury risk (from 2009 through 2012 he threw a total of 21 1/3 ML innings and 35 1/3 minor league innings) and is used to being used as a starter.  Cecil was as 'rested' as anyone in the pen after that killer game, thus why I listed him ahead of McGowan.  I can understand burning Perez and Wagner as both are minor league free agent signings from last winter and anything you get from them is a bonus.  But McGowan is signed for $1.5 million for 2014 and $4 million for 2015 (or $500k buyout).  Why, when you've worked so hard to rebuild him, would you risk him by using him two days in a row before mixing in the guy you called up specifically for this one game to eat innings?  Yes, the game was close.  But is one more potential win this year worth risking losing McGowan for another few months?  Really?

You don't promote McGowan to baby him. If he can't handle the normal workload of a reliever, he wouldn't be promoted. If he was considered fragile or frail or nursing some injury, he wouldn't have a major-league job. He's already pitched back-to-back games in the minors in recent weeks, precisely because the Jays knew he could be needed for back-to-back games in the majors.

As for Cecil: his workload consists of more than the actual pitch count, it also consists of the warm-up and preparation for high-leverage innings. He was warmed up and brought into two consecutive games, so understandably the Jays would be reluctant to bring him into three consecutive games. McGowan, objectively, had had a lesser workload than Cecil over the two days prior to Sunday. Unless he is some kind of fragile pitcher who needs to be babied, he was in a better position to handle two consecutive games than Cecil was to handle three consecutive games.

As for Weber: as soon as he was brought into the game, he would have to kept for multiple innings because of the risk of extra innings. Logically, therefore, you postpone that until it's necessary, since he is considered the 8th man in the bullpen. By bringing in McGowan in the 8th inning, the Jays minimized the number of innings that Weber would potentially have to pitch.

"But is one more potential win this year worth risking losing McGowan for another few months? Really?"

First of all, yes. And secondly, you're blowing the risk way out of proportion. As China Fan pointed out, he was used on back to back days in the minors to get him ready for this role. If you want to argue he wasn't ready to be called up, that's fine (and you'd probably be wrong because none of us had a clue whether or not McGowan was ready), but once he's up Gibbons was right to use him as one of his regular relievers, not as a mop up duty arm.

China fan - that seems a bit odd for logic to me.  You have a guy here to eat innings so you don't use him just in case of extra innings? 

In the past the Jays have been a bit more careful with injured players than they seem to be with McGowan.  Back in the glory years the Jays had Danny Cox, an ex-starter who was used just once all year in back-to-back games (the Jays lost the game he pitched on the day after he last pitched as he blew the lead and got the loss).  That was the right way to work it, imo, with a guy who isn't used to going back-to-back.  You play it safe, you try to avoid that situation and do it only if there really isn't any other option.  Last night there was another option.  Yes, if the game went 18 innings again the Jays were screwed but the odds of that were slim and if they were so worried about it they should've sent 2 guys down instead.

I was very impressed with Wagner during his time here.  It's funny how, with all the sturm and drang over building a bullpen, the club produced Loup last year and Wagner this year more or less under-the-radar. Maybe Ybarra will be that guy in 2014. 

This might seem heretical, but I wonder if Janssen is ideally suited to the modern closer role.  The whole notion is 9th inning-up 1 to 3 runs, and will routinely involve back-to-back appearances.  Wouldn't it be a lot better if his role was re-defined to "very high leverage, hadn't pitched the day before" with corresponding changes to the roles of Oliver, Delabar, and Cecil? If the reference to leverage is too frightening, how about simply one of several eighth inning guys? In the conventional modern bullpen set-up, it isn't great to have a closer who is routinely unavailable the day after throwing an inning.

I'm not sure why McGowan shouldn't have been available yesterday. He had shown an ability to pitch on back to back nights in the minors without any ill effect. Sure, you can try to protect him somewhat if you want, but if needed, he can go back to back games. And he was needed.

McGowan was used back to back by Buffalo on the 4th and 5th. He obviously showed no ill effects or he wouldn't have been brought up. As others have said, if he shouldn't be used back to back, he really shouldn't be up here. Right now he's just one of Magpie's 9 or 10 guys.

Pitcher A: 5.40 ERA, 4.63 FIP, 5.1 IP per start
Pitcher B: 5.40 ERA, 4.61 FIP, 5.1 IP per start

Pitcher B has shown in the past he's far better than Pitcher A, so dammit, can he please stop pitching like pitcher B!

I'm with China on this one, I'd like to see McGowan in a lower leverage situation to , but it's   trying to make the best of a bad situation.

For me the big picture question was the poor outing by Johnson. He really needed to eat some innings and failed miserably. At this rate he may be coming back here on arbitration , I don't think he has much trade value and the way he's pitching currently, I don't think he'll be a high end free agent either. He needs to get it going.

Danny Cox’s affliction was vertigo-related, wasn’t it?  He could never be sure on a given day if he could stand up properly (ie., without feeling dizziness) let alone throw major-league pitches.  Different story.

It's amazing.  Some people lament the club's injury history with pitchers and treat it as simply bad luck.  Dustin McGowan demonstrated very little in Buffalo except the ability to throw at 98 mph, and strike out some batters.  You put him in high leverage situations back-to-back with his injury history immediately upon his return to the majors and you think this is going to go well?  You don't figure that he is more likely to press and hurt himself?  Really?

If this was the intended usage, the club would have been better off to leave him in Buffalo and call up Stilson, Carreno or someone else. 

Jeez MG. We had 27 high leverage innings in 27 hours.

"You don't figure that he is more likely to press and hurt himself?"

I don't. I think he's just as likely to press in the minors.

"Dustin McGowan demonstrated very little in Buffalo except the ability to throw at 98 mph, and strike out some batters."

Oh, that's it?! Get a grip.

This beats hearing about how Negrych and Pillar belong with the club, though.

The pressing and hurting himself angle is an interesting one. Reports from Buffalo had Dustin sitting 92-94 with the odd pitch up to 95-96. He was clearly goosing it up to 97-98 here both days. It will be interesting to see if there are any ill effects. (It was also interesting that he could dial it up to 97 on the second day.)

It may be that we have to come to terms with the fact that Dustin's labrum is fine. There have been two or three surgeries since the last labrum surgery. (rotator cuff, knee, maybe plantar, maybe ortho cleanup)

I guess there is almost a consensus here.  We'll see.  I am hoping to be wrong about this.

And as for Negrych, I see that Emilio Bonifacio has just been tearing it up lately.  No doubt Negrych would have hurt worse than Bonifacio's .243/.260/.311 over the last 28 days and played immeasurably worse defence.

Dewey, I think you have Cox confused with that other former St. Louis Cardinal, Ken Dayley.

You’re right, Four Seamer.  I do have them mixed up.  Thanks.

No doubt Negrych would have hurt worse than Bonifacio's .243/.260/.311

As Dewey has kindly given me an opportunity to correct the brain cramp, I intended to say "hit worse" not "hurt worse".  Both Bonifacio and Negrych might qualify for the "Little Hurt" nickname nonetheless.

No doubt Negrych would have hurt worse than Bonifacio's .243/.260/.311

You forgot Bonifacio's 3 stolen bases (against 2 times being caught).

In partial defence of Mike: it's quite possible to predict injury in almost any scenario, including McGowan going back-to-back games or any other scenario. We just don't know what will trigger an injury or not. I remember a discussion here, a couple years ago, about pitch counts and whether you can quantify the point at which a pitcher is throwing too many pitches. The conclusion was that pitch counts are just one of many factors. Other factors are: how often a pitcher gets up to prepare to enter a game; the duration of his outing; etc, etc. It's the same as the arguments over the 8-man bullpen and whether it helps to protect a bullpen from injury. I believe it does, but anyone is free to point out that pitchers used to throw many more pitches, and much more often, without noticeable injury. It's really an unresolvable debate.

I believe it was Richard Griffin who recently pointed out that the rubber-armed Mike Marshall pitched an incredible 208 innings, over 106 games, for the Dodgers in 1974....

It looks like no one is in the mood for quizzes today. From my earlier post, the two eerily similar pitching lines are Johnson's this year and 2011 Jo-Jo Reyes.

Wildrose was right when he pointed out the big picture issue yesterday was Johnson rather than McGowan. One thing though Wildrose, there is no FA arbitration. Jays either offer Johnson a $14 million 1 yr deal or simply let him walk if he reaches free agency. He certainly doesn't look to be worth anywhere close to $14 million.

Nothing that can happen with McGowan will change what people have been saying here. If he isn't ready and blows his arm out again the club did everything they could to get him back out there and eventually they had to see what they had in him. An extra week in AAA wouldn't have prevented anything, and the team can't afford to call up a reliever who can only throw an inning or two every few days.

"No doubt Negrych would have hurt worse than Bonifacio's .243/.260/.311 over the last 28 days and played immeasurably worse defence."

Well, I'm not sure it's immeasurable but yes, from what I've read, that'd be a safe assumption. And while it's true he may have outhit Bonifacio, you simply cannot discard the external cost of promoting Negrych, which was losing Emilio to waivers

The club did everything they could with McGowan?  Really?  He misses a year, gets 2 innings in single A and then 9 innings in triple A with an ERA of 7, 10 hits and 6 walks and the club has done everything it could?  There are lots of ways to rehab pitchers from injuries; this is one of them, but it certainly isn't the only one.  Many clubs have given pitchers half a season in the minors in similar circumstances to allow the pitcher time to get some control of his stuff.

Like I said, there's a pattern.  Ricky Romero, Sean Nolin, Dustin McGowan.  Each of the situations is a little different, but the common theme is lack of patience.

" Many clubs have given pitchers half a season in the minors in similar circumstances to allow the pitcher time to get some control of his stuff."

Examples??

"Lack of patience" is not exactly the phrase that I would use to describe the Jays in their treatment of McGowan and Romero.

In the case of McGowan: several years of patience by the Jays as he fights through an incredibly long series of injuries.

In the case of Romero: the Jays gave him all of 2012 at the major-league level to try to figure out his problems, even though people like Hayhurst have suggested that they should have demoted him last year. This year, they have patiently waited as Romero cycles through a variety of mechanical and psychological approaches, and they've only given him 2 games in the majors in the past two months as they wait patiently for him to figure out what works.

Actually, the Jays don't have the 1/2 year option unless they wanted to risk losing McGowan to waivers as he'd have to clear to be sent to the minors.  With his 98 MPH fastball and being almost ready I figure someone would've claimed him.  He was down on injury rehab which has a 30 day limit for minor league games before he has to go back on the DL or up to the majors.  The Jays could've left him down another week I think but that would've been it. 

I still think it is just dumb to push it with a guy like McGowan.  A few here are insisting that relievers HAVE to pitch back to back days or they are useless.  That just seems dumb when I was able to show a guy who was used that way just once in a full season back in the days of a 5 man bullpen for a World Champion Jays team.  The trick isn't to have a bullpen of interchangeable parts - it is to use each part to their best use.  Normally Gibbons does a good job with that, but in this case it seemed bizarre when another choice existed in the guy they just called up to eat innings.  A guy who is a starting pitcher thus could easily go 5-7 innings if needed.  If the game goes to the 13th inning then fine, risk it so you don't have to use a hitter on the mound.  Otherwise you are taking a risk that really isn't necessary.  McGowan has shown he needs his arm to be treated like it is made of glass because it seems to be.

I also find it funny how many are saying McGowan HAS to be able to go back-to-back but Cecil doing 3 in a row is just crazy talk.

Ah well...enough banging my head against a wall.  Hopefully McGowan is fine and things work out.  Lets hope Dickey can go 8 or 9 tonight and let the pen rest a bit.

That's what the Blue Jays did in 2009 with Casey Janssen. 

I know that McGowan's rehab period was up June 12, but the call-up and then the back-to-back outings, in high pressure situations after a short rehab stint and 1 year out of action, is just asking for trouble.  I know that some feel that biomechanics is the only aspect of pitcher injuries; personally, I am of the view that it is a combination of things.  No team has been successful in eliminating them entirely (and I do not think that it is possible), but reducing the risk is something that a club can do. 

"I know that some feel that biomechanics is the only aspect of pitcher injuries"

I'm probably as big a proponent of biomechanics as any on this board, but even I don't believe they are the only aspect. Genetics, prior use, pitching hurt or with fatigued arms all play a part as do bad mechanics.

I analogize football helmets with biomechanics. A football team could say "players wear helmets and there are still massive amounts of injuries, many unpredictable - players will get injured whether or not they wear a helmet". I'm just venturing to guess the guys without helmets would be injured more often and more severely than those in full gear.

Danny Cox

He was one of those guys who throws across his body, with his arm slamming to a stop against his lower torso. He was always a serious shoulder injury just waiting to happen. After three very fine full seasons in the Cardinals rotation (41-31, 3.19, 660 IP from 1985-87), his problems began happening. He broke down in 1988, missed all of the next two seasons, was cut loose by the Cardinals, and spent 1991-92 trying to make it back with the Phillies and Pirates.

Gaston talked about how Cox had to be used differently, more like a starter than a reliever - that he was a guy could only be used every couple of days, who needed rest between appearances. So you wouldn't want to waste him to retire one batter. Stuff like that. Gaston didn't believe Cox could stand up to a reliever's standard workload. Naturally, people started screaming for Cox to be put into the starting rotation when the team had issues there.