The last major free-agent domino of the 2014-15 offseason has fallen, and starting pitcher James Shields is now a Padre. Adjectives such as "reliable," "consistent" and, most of all, "durable" are the ones most commonly used to describe the former Ray and Royal. While durability certainly is a good thing, what are its upper limits? How many miles on the odometer is too many when it comes to a major league pitcher? Over an eight-year period, that limit just might be 27,000 pitches.
Shields made his major league debut on May 31, 2006, and hasn't missed a start since. This, of course, is a good thing. He has qualified for the ERA title in eight straight seasons, beginning in 2007, and only Justin Verlander has thrown more pitches since.
Only eight pitchers have qualified for the ERA title in each of the past eight seasons: Shields, Verlander, Felix Hernandez, Dan Haren, Cole Hamels, A.J. Burnett, Mark Buehrle and Jeremy Guthrie. And believe it or not, eight is actually a pretty high number compared to other recent seasons. Below are lists, dating back to 2002-2009, of all pitchers who qualified for eight consecutive ERA titles. The number of pitches thrown by each hurler over each span is also listed.