I've heard it said that it's not the number of pitches thrown in an inning... it's the number of times you cool down and warm up (i.e., innings pitched).
It really has nothing to do with innings... it has to do with stress. If he was throwing 160 innings with 3 pitches per inning... he could easily go 200+ innings and there'd be no stress on his arm. It has more to do with how stressful the innings are/how many "bullets" he's wasting in those innings.
Lately, I've actually moved into the shut Strasburg down camp... specifically because I see his velocity dropping and his control starting to falter.
Today, I'm just playing the "what if?" card. I don't really know how I feel about shutting him down. Sometimes I want him to pitch the whole season, sometimes I want to cut him off at 160.
I'm just happy I don't have to make the decision.
