Return of the Starting Pitcher?

In Major League Baseball by Rice Cube57 Comments

As pitchers continue to pile up on the injured list shelf, and seemingly a new Tommy John announcement every few days, this random thing just came out:

The league has discussed a limit to the size of pitching staffs and the double-hook DH, according to sources familiar with the discussion. There is some belief around the game, however, that one idea could be a panacea: requiring starting pitchers to go at least six innings every time they take the mound.

Source: ESPN

As starter innings have dwindled and the old-school “workhorse” has all but become extinct, the rosters have expanded by one to accommodate that extra pitcher. The issue, of course, is that any changes this drastic will take time, and that means we won’t see the teams adapting to this for at least a couple years, and then slowly we would see the new crop of pitchers move up to start eating six innings plus at a time again. Or that’s the theory, anyway.

The other issue is that because everyone knows that more velocity equals more potential outs, it isn’t like the pitchers are going to scale it back because the incentives just aren’t there yet. I have wondered out loud whether pitching salaries will take a hit as the market corrects itself to say “hey maybe we shouldn’t dump all the money for arms that are going to break,” which is admittedly kind of shitty because the pitchers initiate the action and are one of the most important parts of any baseball team, yet teams are just grinding through them like so much hamburger meat before going to the next arm that isn’t broken.

Now that this is on the table, along with computerized balls-and-strikes being considered, maybe we will get back to a type of game that we older folks grew up with, where the starter was expected to get through six or seven innings or even go complete game, where the baserunners run wild, and where it isn’t just the three true outcomes anymore. That won’t happen for a while yet, but it’s kind of funny how everything, even baseball, wants to go retro now, eh?

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  7. Perkins

    dmick89:
    Fuck this mandatory workload for the starting pitchers shit.

    I’m also not a fan of this. Thinking about the execution, what if a guy is gassed early because of deep counts and foul balls? What about those days when a starter absolutely has nothing?

    If MLB wants to incentivize longer outings from SP, maybe they should go back to 25 man rosters and limit the pitching staff to 11 or 12 with a ramp of several years to let orgs adjust their player development.

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  8. Author
    Rice Cube

    Perkins,

    Part of the idea I’ve heard via various snippets over the past few months is restricting it to 12 pitchers on the 26 man staff, also the article does suggest some thresholds, like runs already given up or pitch count. I do think the easiest way to go is a minimum pitch count or a double hook DH.

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  9. Author
    Rice Cube

    Keep in mind also there’s little chance this happens in the remainder of this decade due to all the testing and subsequent adjustments that have to be made.

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  30. berselius

    Brad Biggs
    @BradBiggs
    #Bears GM Ryan Poles and asst GM Ian Cunningham are definitely inspecting different spots on the field, looking at the turf. I’m not privy to what they’re saying but this isn’t a standard pregame routine and from my perch in the press box it appears there are some seams.

    Brad Biggs
    @BradBiggs
    From what I have been told the field isn’t as bad as it can look from an elevated view, but it’s not in tip-top shape as it has been the last few seasons. Team is definitely looking into this.

    “as it has been the last few seasons”, (dying laughing)

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  36. andcounting

    Was following along on gameday with PCA on 3rd and Happ at the plate. When “Missed Bunt” appeared, I immediately said out loud, “PCA just got picked off.”

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  51. andcounting

    berselius,

    (dying laughing) that the Cubs are done playing the two teams ahead of them in the division. Besides that, there’s not a huge difference between what it’s going to take to grab the last wildcard and what it will take to catch the Brewers. Either way, the Cubs need a pretty epic stretch run. If they could win ten in a row or 15 of 20, I would like their chances of catching one or the other. But it’s pretty hard to imagine a run like that without establishing a closer not named Neris.

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  53. andcounting

    Rice Cube,

    A. I’m kinda thinking we should not do that.
    B. I wouldn’t say they’ve “established” a closer by committee or otherwise until we’ve seen at least five saves in a row without much drama.

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