Arizona’s All-Pac-12 pitcher, Nathan Bannister, left Friday’s College World Series start against Oklahoma State with what appears to be an injury to his pitching arm.
Some will say UA pitching coach Dave Lawn and head coach Jay Johnson asked too much of the righty — too many innings, too many pitches.
That’s probably not accurate.
Bannister threw 141 innings in 20 starts. That’s not being overworked, according to the leading pitchers in UA history. At Arizona, it’s a bit less than average for the ace of a World Series staff.
In 1989, when he won a school-record 18 games and Arizona was the Pac-10 champion, future MLB All-Star Scott Erickson pitched 172 innings.
In 1986, when he pitched Arizona to the national championship, Gil Heredia pitched 165 innings.
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In 1985, future MLB standout Joe Magrane pitched Arizona to the College World Series by throwing 149 innings.
All three had accomplished professional careers.
Erickson not only pitched 172 innings for Arizona in 1989, he pitched 78 innings that summer for Single-A Visalia. When he was 30, in 1998, Erickson pitched 251 innings for the Baltimore Orioles.
After leaving Arizona in ’87, Heredia pitched 101 innings that summer for Fresno and Everett (Washington) in Single-A. When he was 34, Heredia won 15 games for the Oakland A’s and pitched 199 innings.
When Magrane left Arizona in ’85, he pitched 66 more innings that summer for St. Petersburg and Johnson City in the low minors. Three years later, he won 18 games for the St. Louis Cardinals.
Baseball coaches (and trainers) now err on the side of caution. Pitch counts have become as important as ERAs.
When Arizona won the 2012 College World Series, star right-hander Kurt Heyer pitched 153 innings. Two years later, making 27 starts for St. Louis’ affiliates Springfield and Memphis, Heyer pitched 152 total innings.
That’s one fewer inning than his epic 2012 Arizona season, a year in which some analysts said Heyer was overworked.
