Devourer of young pitchers, heart-er of scrub veterans.

One of the biggest threats to a young pitcher is being brought along too fast or overworked too much–Dusty Baker and Kerry Wood ring a bell–and if your team is sporting a hot young prospect, you may just have reason to be a little worried. Tom Verducci catalogues some of the pitchers that may be in danger of overuse and injury this year and fans and fantasy players may want to keep an eye out.

How much should those guys be worried? Over the previous three years I red-flagged a total of 24 young pitchers at the start of those seasons. Of those 24 at-risk pitchers, 16 were hurt in that same season. Only one of the 24 pitchers managed to stay healthy and lower his ERA: Ubaldo Jimenez of Colorado, a guy I said would be less at risk because of his powerful body type.

Names on the list include Cole Hamels and Tim Linecum.

Source.

Rick Vaughn pitching, SI