Welcome To September, Kids

?Only eight rookies have thrown 200 innings in a season, none of them for a team that made the playoffs. Six of those eight pitchers developed serious arm problems within two years, and seven of them experienced a major innings drop the very next season (box, below). The one exception is Oakland's Joe Blanton, who in his second season is on pace for 201 innings. The A's righthander, however, has seen a considerable jump in his ERA (from 3.53 to 4.47), batting average against (.236 to .302) and a decline in strikeouts per nine innings (5.19 to 4.76).

?Not including Livan and Orlando Hernandez, who were seasoned international stars, only six rookie starters-- Jaret Wright, John Lackey, C.C. Sabathia, Bud Smith, Bob Wolcott and Barry Zito--have won a postseason game.

?Only 14 pitchers 25 and under have won a postseason start, and none of the 88 postseason teams in the wild-card era have had two 25-and-under starters win games in the same postseason.

With Verlander and fellow 23-year-old flamethrower Jeremy Bonderman, the Tigers--like the Twins and the Angels (with their trios of youngsters) and the Athletics (the duo of Blanton and Danny Haren)--are attempting to alter that history. (The 24-year-old Miner would likely yield his rotation spot to lefthanders Nate Robertson, 28, and Kenny Rogers, 41, the club's only pitcher to have thrown 200 innings in a season.) Moreover, Detroit's bullpen relies heavily on rookie setup man Joel Zumaya, 21, whose fastball has been clocked as high as 102 mph and who has held opponents to a .176 batting average.

"If they get in [the playoffs], they're going to cause trouble," says Boston designated hitter David Ortiz. "You know why? Power pitching. That's what wins in the playoffs, because the strike zone tightens up and you need stuff, not finesse, to get hitters out. Detroit is like Chicago was last year--only better. More power. The only question with them is how the young guys hold up."

Says an insouciant Leyland, "I hope they pitch a lot of innings. That would mean they're doing good. If they don't pitch a lot of innings, they're not pitching very good."

Nonetheless, Detroit has carefully monitored its young pitchers, particularly Verlander. Leyland, for instance, used the All-Star break to juggle his rotation and give Verlander 10 days off and, when the rookie complained of arm fatigue after an Aug. 1 start, the manager gave him a nine-day break. The Tigers have also moved his between-starts throwing sessions from a bullpen mound to flat ground to lessen the stress on his arm, and they are considering using a six-man rotation in September, largely to give Verlander an extra day in between starts.

"After a start, the next day I'm real sore," Verlander says. "I feel like crap. It's a weird feeling. You're tired, and your shoulder feels sore, dull. Throwing is an unnatural motion. And if I throw 100 pitches and the majority of them are 96 miles an hour, then the muscles in the back of my shoulder, the rotator cuff, slam on the brakes a hundred times. So it's like brake pads getting worn down. You feel it.

"But that's why you put in the work between starts, the running and conditioning. September? I love it. Bring it on. If I don't want the ball in those big spots, then I shouldn't be in this game. And if anything, because I'm young I should be able to withstand it."

Verlander relies heavily on the counsel of Rogers and Bonderman, who might be the same age as the rookie but is already pitching in his fourth big league season. "If I'm starting my own team, Bonderman is one of the five starters I would pick, no question," Boston ace Curt Schilling says. "He's a great example of a guy who went through those lessons in his early years and really learned from it."