Quote Originally Posted by HSVDawg View Post
He did "fine" with them because he didn't have to do anything with guys like Hudson and Houston. Those guys came in throwing like 95-96 mph and had stature and body type to support doing so repeatedly. Both of those guys are 6-4 / 6-5 plus with plenty of upper body strength. Also you had guys like Sexton that didn't see sharp increases in velocity that did fine as well because they continued to focus on location (which was a Butch emphasis). The pattern with all the injuries is that it has all been underclassmen. Almost like he took a more hands on approach with the new recruits, but left the older guys alone to keep from too much alteration to the routines and workouts that they had utilized for 2+ years under Butch. Wouldn't be surprised if the 3 Arkansas pitchers were young guys as well.

I think the thing about the upperclassmen not getting hurt- you have to remember that those pitcher are also older and more developed as baseball players and physically than the underclassmen who have not filled out yet and are still learning how to pitch. So, in general an older player can be more aggressive with weights and things like that.

And you are correct that pitching program shouldn't be one sized fits all because everyone is built differently and also at different stages of development physically.