Also to add, he was pitching the biggest game of his life so far.

He knew the Yankees were the toughest team he's ever faced, and that all of Japan was watching.

He did well, no doubt. Better than any Texas pitcher ever has, first time the Yankees have been shut out by them in 12 years.

But I have no doubt the Yankees will figure him out. He won't always be so lucky with the strike zone either.

Because he had complete command of 5 pitches and pitched to a line-up that never saw him before. And, he's used to pitching once a week. He will be a mediocre pitcher after the all-star break and for the rest of his career.

We lost to a guy with orange hair.

... and a vowel for a name. At least Kruk was happy, somewhere, alone with a doughnut.

Letting Wilson go and getting a younger Darvish in for less (luxury cap wise) is looking like a really smart move. Texas is going to be good for awhile.
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Until Darvish breaks down from throwing a heavier ball more frequently with less rest. Like Matsuzaka.

But I'm sure the Rangers will keep tabs on him and protect his arm, right? He only threw what? 250 pitches last night? Oh, only 119? In his third start? Sure, that's not a lot.

You can't really ignore the injury. Had the yanks tested him before the season like they do in Pro football at the combine, we might have found out he had an issue. The physical does not really check anything unless it is a known injury. Because of this, we may have another Pavano on our hands. He surely won't be back this year with injury that he has and we lost a top prospect and a lot of money.

"Until Darvish breaks down from throwing a heavier ball more frequently with less rest. Like Matsuzaka."

Maybe, but I'd still rather have him than Wilson. I also think Darvish's stuff & mentality is a lot better Dice-K.... Build too.

"But I'm sure the Rangers will keep tabs on him and protect his arm, right?"

Nolan rides em hard it's worked for them so far.

" He surely won't be back this year with injury that he has and we lost a top prospect and a lot of money."

How did they lose a lot of money?

Maybe, but I'd still rather have him than Wilson. I also think Darvish's stuff & mentality is a lot better Dice-K.... Build too.

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I like Pineda more than Wilson. Right now. With Pineda's shoulder injury and all. I could not possibly like Wilson much less.

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Nolan rides em hard it's worked for them so far.

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If we make the mistake of confusing good fortune for good logic, then everybody ought to do this. Dusty Baker had a very similar philosophy with Prior/Wood and later with Cueto/Volquez. How did that work out?

The reality is that it's probably got as much to do with a pitcher's mechanics as it does to his workload. A guy with Prior's mechanics probably breaks down, even with a lighter workload. But it probably takes longer than it did.

That said... for all the "Nolan rides 'em" stuff... what homegrown pitcher have they really pushed, in terms of innings?

Holland maxed out at 198 last year, and he's been in/out of the league for 3 years now.
Harrison did 185 after being up/down for the 3 years prior.
Ogando got bounced back and forth from the rotation to the pen.
Feliz closed, now he's starting.
Even Wilson spent a bunch of time in the pen before getting his innings pushed in his late 20's.

For all the talk about how hard these guys are "pushed"... their workloads are pretty conservative.

And their numbers all look amazing because they're padded by 36 games against the A's and Mariners.

What do you think Phil Hughes' ERA would be if he made 15 starts against the Padres, A's, Mariners and Astros? Would you worship the ground he walked on and sign him to a big extension?

"If we make the mistake of confusing good fortune for good logic, then everybody ought to do this. Dusty Baker had a very similar philosophy with Prior/Wood and later with Cueto/Volquez. How did that work out?"

I have no idea about the Reds throwing program. I doubt they have one even if they do I doubt Crusty Baker could understand the concept, heck I don't think he could even spell throwing program.

"That said... for all the "Nolan rides 'em" stuff... what homegrown pitcher have they really pushed, in terms of innings?"

Look at the innings jumps for those guys and i was more referring to him having them throw in between starts.

"Even Wilson spent a bunch of time in the pen before getting his innings pushed in his late 20's."

I think that was before Ryan took over.

"What do you think Phil Hughes' ERA would be if he made 15 starts against the Padres, A's, Mariners and Astros? Would you worship the ground he walked on and sign him to a big extension?"

LOL. If I were a GM I'd push my young pitchers real hard and then not extend them more times than not. Pitchers don't age like position players I'm all for gettin while the gettin is good... So to speak.

"Ryan doesn't have a perfect record though."

No he doesn't but who does? To be honest I'm changing my tune a bit. I was a not a believer in his philosophy at all and i'm still not sold but knowing what I know now about aging curves of pitchers, I think he may have stumbled onto something....

"i would think part of it is their overall physical conditioning that Ryan practiced as a player, not just throwing a ton. "

well yeah a throwing program doesn't just mean throwing. Ryan is always talking about pitching from the legs and having a ton of leg strength.

"A Freidman waves hello :)"

I'm curious to see what he does with Price.

"dunno about price.... he's their little golden boy."

There's a lot of gold in that rotation lol... Moore and Hellickson seem pretty golden too.

Even after last season rumors were floating around that they were looking to dump Shields like hot trash. Maybe they will dump him in the Bronx