FROM JOEL SHERMAN

I believe in protecting young pitcher’s arms, especially prized young pitchers such as Joba Chamberlain. There is still too much “just let him pitch” thinking, as if we have learned nothing about the physiology of the arm over the last quarter century. There is plenty of data and research to strongly suggest that if you significantly inflate a young pitcher’s inning workload — especially pitchers 25 and under — from one season to the next you greatly enhance the risk of damaging that pitcher’s arm/stuff over the long run. There are many reasons that the Tigers — perhaps even more than the Yankees — are the majors’ most disappointing team in 2008.

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