Anyone who follows the game of baseball closely knows that pitchers and their arms have to be appropriately managed. While competitive spirit can take over, you usually don’t want your guys overexerting themselves to the point of dangerous fatigue and exhaustion.
Evidently, Stanford baseball lost sight of this with Quinn Mathews on Sunday evening. In a pivotal Game 2 of the Cardinal’s Super Regional series with Texas, Mathews threw an astonishing 156 pitches in nine innings to help his team to an 8-3 win. Perhaps more impressively, he somehow only notched three walks while striking out 16 hitters. Truly, it was a dynamic workhorse performance all around.
Now, that said, Mathews is a college senior. Presumably, he wants an MLB future. It was downright irresponsible to have him go this long in an amateur game, risking injury and his professional prospects. Heck, most MLB pitchers don’t even come close to that kind of pitch count these days!
The full rundown https://t.co/uBAYD8fPP7 pic.twitter.com/tqkmNUAMjE
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) June 12, 2023
156 total pitches for Quinn Mathews pic.twitter.com/pfBxR0rX6J
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) June 12, 2023
Lest I forget: Mathews will apparently be available for a few more innings in tonight’s finale. Phew.
Stanford got the win, so it accomplished its main objective in the short term. But someone should’ve probably been looking out for Mathews’ health in the long run.
Fans on Twitter were appalled by Mathews throwing 156 pitches in a college game
No way Quinn Mathews is still in the game and they’re talking about the paper he wrote on Tommy John alternatives. That did not just happen
— Aria Gerson (@aria_gerson) June 12, 2023
Should there be a pitch limit in @NCAABaseball for the safety of the players? 150+ pitches in a game? Very well pitched game don’t get me wrong but c’mon..
— Tres Barrera (@TresBarrera13) June 12, 2023
I have no answer/insight to the pitch count debate, but all I know is that when I woke up this morning, my arm hurt as if I were the one who threw 156 pitches last night.
Can’t imagine how Quinn Mathews is feeling
— Harris Yudin (@hayudi18) June 12, 2023
Pitch 156 now. The rest of Quinn Mathews' life: pic.twitter.com/818dKTHFJ6
— Matt Clapp (@TheBlogfines) June 12, 2023
We probably need to put pitch limits on college pitchers. There's no reason why Quinn Mathews needs to be in this game, throwing 150+.
— Brian Murphy (@Spokes_Murphy) June 12, 2023
This is abuse. Ridiculous. https://t.co/z8YWxLY6oS
— Brian Hedger (@BrianHedger) June 12, 2023
156 pitches is absurd.
Like what are we doing here? https://t.co/xbLyg5B6YG
— Mike Beauvais (@MikeBeauvais) June 12, 2023
And somewhere a Tommy John surgeon just bought himself a new Rolex https://t.co/Iia4ceYdIA
— Josh Rowntree (@JRown32) June 12, 2023
His coach and the people on the coaching staff should actually be fired. https://t.co/eE7ZXoIOxr
— Anthony Nash (@_anthonynash) June 12, 2023
Are they trying to make his arm fall off?! https://t.co/NoUweZJxCY
— Ashley Rodrigues (@bsbllnbkns) June 12, 2023
