The greatest minds in the Yankee Universe are scratching their heads over the conspicuous drop in velocity on his fast ball. This hits a particular nerve because Brian Cashman and the Sabermetric boys think they've reinvented the game when it comes to coddling young pitchers.

See Joba Rules.

Hughes, too, has been brought along with reams of statistical probabilities that are supposed to tell you how the human arm will react. Yet now there's speculation he has dead arm.

Truth is, they don't know any more than the rest of us about why some young pitchers break down at an early age and why others, under similar conditions, escape serious injury for decades.

Some guys can just throw 200 innings when they’re 21, and still be throwing 200-plus innings late in their careers. CC Sabathia is one of many such pitchers.

We get that there are extremes that need to be avoided, but coddling pitchers may not bring anything beneficial to the table at all.
To read the full I Was Thinking column, click here