is the fact that we have so few pitchers that are decent, that we burn out the few decent ones that we have. Crosswhite wasn't bad last year.
Another thing- and this is on Polk- is by Polk leaving his pitchers out there too long, he might be burning them out as well. Yes, Polk stays pretty close to pitch counts, but let's say that a pitcher throws 120 pitches in 4 innings. That's 30 pitches an inning, which means that the pitcher had to use max effort to get those pitches in whereas a pither that throws 120 pitches over 8 innings averages 15 pitches an inning, plus rest breaks in the dugout between innings to rest the arm. So, my thinking here is more effort, less rest = more arm strain. In a way, sometimes having a rough outing can be good in that a pitcher can rest his arm a little more. Of course, there are a lot more bad things assiciated with that, I won't deny that.
