The change in starting pitchers
craig44
Posts: 11,254 ✭✭✭✭✭
the thread over on the memorabilia side got me thinking about the changing role of starting pitching. it really hasnt been that long ago when a starter was expected to at least get 7 innings or more in a postseason start. The ace traditionally would pitch games 1, 4 and 7 if need be. as recently as Bumgarner just a few years ago, but Josh Beckett, Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson have all pitched often and deep into post season games since 2000.
Now people are fawning all over David Price because he lasted 6 innings and gave up 2 runs. Wouldnt it be more valuable for the roster if starters were again expected to throw more often and deeper into games? It would free up a few roster spots that wouldnt be taken up by middle relievers.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
Comments
I always said that the cure for a bad bullpen was good starting pitching. Unfortunately, those days are going away fast. The notion of the "horse" will soon be gone. I would say that it would be cool to see a team buck that trend and start having guys pitch complete games again, but these guys are being trained to only go five or six innings, so that won't happen.
The death of the Ace has begun.
Maybe some small market team will someday start training their guys to pitch complete games so they don't have to waste 12 million dollars a year on a eigth inning man, 20 million on a closer, and 10 million on a 7th inning man etc. Then they can spend that money on hitting and compete with the big market teams.
Agreed. It seems routine now for teams to put their starters in for 5 innings, sometimes even less, I saw this so much in box scores this season. The traditional approach to use a starter, then a setup and closer has been ditched for more of a pitching-by-committee approach. My guess is that it will cause the baseball writers in future years to puzzle over what constitutes a Hall of Fame pitcher.
In 1973 Nolan Ryan started 39 games and pitched 326 innings, with 26 complete games. That means he averaged around 7 innings for the games he didn’t complete. What with leading the league in both strikeouts and walks, I wonder how many pitches he threw that year? And 1974 was almost identical, so zero hangover.
Ryan threw 235 pitches in one game in 1974. It was a 13 inning effort.
In 1989 he threw 164 pitches in a game at age 42.
IMO the new "horse" is gonna be a big, young, flamethrower that gives you a strong inning out of the pen almost every night. Not my cup of tea but the way managers are making soooo many moves and using soooo many guys on a nightly basis. Gonna make reliable relievers more valuable than starters that are giving you 5.5 innings once a week. Really not a fan of starters not taking as much ownership of the games they start.
bugbit, that does seem to be the new wave of the future. I heard John Smoltz recently comment that young starters are told to throw as hard as they can for as long as they can and then a reliever will come in for them. That mindset is what is going on now. It also has everything to do with the rash of TJ surgeries in recent years. Unless this trend changes, I think we may have seen the end of the 15-20 starting pitcher career.
Look at how long Jaimie Moyer and Tom Glavine pitched throwing junk. You need command and movement.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
Command and movement are great during the regular season where you're facing bad teams a good portion of the time Or you're throwing stuff guys haven't see in 4 months. In the postseason, however, power matter. That's why Moyer & Glavine were a combined 16-19 in the playoffs.