by The GM on July 26 at 7:48PM
Today, Rich Harden made his third start for the Chicago Cubs. And today, he pitched a great game. However, the Cubs have not helped out Harden with getting him a win.
In Harden's three starts he has pitched 17.1 innings, given up two earned runs, and struck out 30 batters. Those are amazing numbers, the kind a team really wants from a guy heading out to the mound.
In the 17 innings pitched, Harden has thrown 295 pitches. That is an alarming rate of pitches. With the amount of strikeouts he is racking up, he is also racking up mileage on an already unstable arm.
A lot of the strikeouts are due to the fact that most National League hitters have not faced him before. The others are due to Harden just being a good pitcher. He has some of the best in all of baseball and is showing that this season. I just hope that he holds up long enough to get into the playoffs, where he can do some real damage.
In Harden's three starts he has pitched 17.1 innings, given up two earned runs, and struck out 30 batters. Those are amazing numbers, the kind a team really wants from a guy heading out to the mound.
In the 17 innings pitched, Harden has thrown 295 pitches. That is an alarming rate of pitches. With the amount of strikeouts he is racking up, he is also racking up mileage on an already unstable arm.
A lot of the strikeouts are due to the fact that most National League hitters have not faced him before. The others are due to Harden just being a good pitcher. He has some of the best in all of baseball and is showing that this season. I just hope that he holds up long enough to get into the playoffs, where he can do some real damage.
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Comments
The thing that concerns me is that he has thrown almost 300 pitches in less than two full games (18 innings). I know he has plenty of rest in between starts, but it still concerns me.
The Cubs should be 3-0 in his starts so far.
I think that's just how things are going to be with him since he's had 10k's a game. Give some, get some....
With the sweep of the Brewers He stands a chance of seeing plenty of days off towards the end of the race. I think this may put the cubs out far enough to rest some guys.
The GM
replied to Bruce Paine
I think it is still a little early to be resting players. If the lead manages to get up to 7 games or better, then I could see some rest coming, but 4 games is a series sweep and 1 game.
95-100 is generally the pitch limit for Harden but he threw 112 pitches against Arizona earlier this week but the Cubs had him follow that up with only 87 yesterday to help even it out.
He's throwing really well and is dominating the strike zone. His inability to go more than 6-7 innings is bothersome but the Cubs should be able to hold onto a lead by the time they take him out of the game.
I've seen all of his starts for the Cubs and I really don't have a single complaint about the guy. He hustles on and off the field, throws a lot of strikes and generally looks like a player who cares about winnint.