Daniel Hudson was a main cog in the Arizona Diamondbacks’
2011 resurgence that ended with a National League West
title.

The 24-year-old right hander won 16 games and tied for the
team lead in innings pitched with 222, and tossed another
5.1
innings in the NLDS against the Brewers. And that should
be reason for concern, according to Sports Illustrated’s
Tom Verducci.

Verducci tracks what
he calls “the Year After Effect” – which red flags
pitchers who are under the age of 25 and increase their
innings by 30 or more from one year to the next. The
pitchers who qualify are supposed targets for injury, loss
of life on their fastball, or overall decreased
productivity.

Hudson falls into that category, having thrown 38.2
innings more in 2011 than he did in 2010, when he split
time with Triple-A Charlotte and the Diamondbacks, who
acquired him from the White Sox in late July of 2010.

Here’s Verducci’s capsule on Hudson:

Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson brings an
old-school competitiveness to the dugout. Arizona’s
starters threw more innings than any rotation except
Philadelphia’s. Hudson pitched well down the stretch and
Arizona was trying to win a World Series, so Gibson had no
need to curtail Hudson’s work.

Verducci admits that this isn’t scientific, and Hudson’s
numbers after the All-Star break actually improved in
several categories, including ERA, WHIP and strikeout-to-
walk ratio.

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