re: National's decision to shut down Strasburg

quote:

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Hideo Nomo
Dwight Gooden
Kerry Wood
Dontrelle Willis

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Nomo stands out in this list--are you talking about his use in Japan? He was 26 in his rookie season.

Gooden was 19
Wood was 21
Willis was 21

Also, I wonder if this was not so much the innings they pitched as it was the # of pitches they threw per game. As somebody who watched a lot of Cubs games in the 90s and early 2000s, Kerry Wood had some questionably high pitch count games.

And you can individually look at guys and construct a story as to why they tailed off, Kerry Wood had been abused in high school and had that crazy arm action with his curveball, Willis had the funky delivery, Gooden was not taking care of his body at all, etc.