Year-After Effect: Cole, Fernandez, Wacha among pitchers at risk

MLB teams no longer ask pitchers to work as much as Maddux did -- or Tanaka did in Japan. No matter. Tanaka appears to be good enough to engender such risk.

Tom Verducci | Jan 21, 2014

Year-After Effect: Cole, Fernandez, Wacha among pitchers at risk /

Gerrit Cole helped the Pirates return to the postseason in 2013 but he saw a major increase in his workload. — Gerrit Cole helped the Pirates return to the postseason in 2013 but he saw a major increase in his workload :: Keith Srakocic/AP

MLB teams no longer ask pitchers to work as much as Maddux did -- or Tanaka did in Japan. No matter. Tanaka appears to be good enough to engender such risk. Teams are willing to lay down more than $100 million on the bet that what never would be done with the likes of Wacha, Cole, Gray and Fernandez will be just fine for Tanaka.

Published Jan 21, 2014

TOM VERDUCCI

Tom Verducci is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated who has covered Major League Baseball since 1981. He also serves as an analyst for FOX Sports and the MLB Network; is a New York Times best-selling author; and cohosts The Book of Joe podcast with Joe Maddon. A five-time Emmy Award winner across three categories (studio analyst, reporter, short form writing) and nominated in a fourth (game analyst), he is a three-time National Sportswriter of the Year winner, two-time National Magazine Award finalist, and a Penn State Distinguished Alumnus Award recipient. Verducci is a member of the National Sports Media Hall of Fame, Baseball Writers Association of America (including past New York chapter chairman) and a Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 1993. He also is the only writer to be a game analyst for World Series telecasts. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, with whom he has two children.