This off season was speckled with some speculation that Mike Pelfrey might be a candidate for burnout or injury due to being overused too soon at such a young age, a condition known better as “The Verducci Effect”.
I don’t really subscribe to that theory, and that’s all it really is, because it relies too much a selective cases for it’s foundation that seemed to be cherry-picked to make their case stronger. However, I’m no expert, I’m just tossing my own opinion out there.
Anyway that said, I’ll be keeping a closer eye on Pelfrey this season not because I fear the worst, but because I’d like to blow that whole Verducci Effect theory out of the water. Pelfrey is going to be my own personal case study this season, and I know he will reward my faith in him with a solid injury-free season.
This morning, Pelfrey got off to a solid start against the Italian team who he shut down for two scoreless innings.
Pelfrey threw just 29 pitches, but 21 of them were strikes as he struck out four and gave up just one single during his stint.
Nothing earth-shattering here, and of course it’s still early, but certainly a step in the right direction.
Go Big Pelf!
