Originally Posted by :
he MLB commissioner's office is reportedly considering a rule change that would require starting pitchers to play at least six innings per game.
MLB officials spoke to ESPN and expressed that the league is looking to both have starting pitchers spend more time in the game and also cut back on injuries. While these two viewpoints seem contradictory, the league also reportedly wants more balance in terms of strikeouts versus hits. A pitcher who knows he has to stay in the game longer may take some velocity off his pitches, making it easier for the batter.
"We are interested in increasing the amount of action in the game, restoring the prominence of the starting pitcher and reducing the prevalence of pitching injuries," an MLB official told ESPN. "There are a whole host of options in addressing those issues."
The alleged objective is to prioritize starting pitching but also avoid leaving in a struggling pitcher simply to meet the six-inning minimum.
To counteract this possibility, some caveats would have to be carved out. Some of the suggested exceptions would allow a pitcher to leave the game after:
Throwing 100 pitches
Giving up 4+ earned runs
An injury followed by mandatory time on the injured list
In regards to the minimum, Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Seth Lugo said "I do that anyway."
"We all want to go at least six," he added.
"It's such a bad idea," baseball analyst Gary Sheffield Jr. told Blaze News. "So bad that it would never be considered by the players."
Sheffield stressed that requiring such a pitch count would be extremely detrimental to young pitchers.
"At the velocities they're throwing these days most young arms would explode."
Arizona Diamondbacks General Manager Mike Hazen suggested pulling back on velocity would be an inevitable result.
"That's a tough thing, because that's where you get outs," Hazen explained.
According to Bleacher Report, MLB starters are averaging 5.25 innings in 2024 while Triple-A starters are averaging 4.3. This appears to reveal that development would be required in the minor leagues to extend the life of a starting pitcher another .75 innings in the majors.
Teams have become much more strict in terms of pitch counts for their starters in recent years, so much so that only 21 pitchers have thrown complete games in 2024. Just three pitchers — Kevin Gausman (TOR), Max Fried (ATL), Cristopher Sanchez (PHI) — have more than one.
Aside from the minimum-innings rule, the league has also reportedly considered limiting the size of pitching staffs and implementing the double-hook DH rule.
Currently being experimented with in the independent Atlantic League, the double-hook DH rule causes a team to lose their designated hitter if they remove their starting pitcher from the game.
Originally Posted by scho63:
Baseball is better with the pitch clock but baseball's problem is NOT needing more runs. Baseball's problem is that only 6-7 teams compete every year since the late 70's, early 80's.
The NFL has the best structure by far to bring in new teams each year into the playoffs. 7-8 teams drop out and new ones come in on average each year.
When your team has had no hope for 45 years, why waste time watching?
That’s because of the power of the MLBPA in baseball. MLB would love a salary cap if they could get it, but that would lead to years of labor strife that nobody wants or needs. [Reply]
All the stupid shit they've done and want to do yet they still let umpires call balls and strikes, despite having the technology in place to do it automatically and CORRECTLY. :-) [Reply]
Sounds like the perfect thing for the big market teams to ensure they continue their stranglehold on the league. They can continue to buy up the talent and then feast on the lesser teams even more than they already do.
I believe baseball needs a real salary cap to make things fair. However, I'm pretty sure that the big market teams like things the way they are. [Reply]
They love dumb rules. But won't put a salary floor or ceiling. Hell, I would be happy with a more NBA style. Give max contracts and or deals for homegrown talent.
These rules are to help ensure the big markets teams stay on top.
They love stopping metrics for defensive strategy. But make players hit better or for contact? Nah. [Reply]
Originally Posted by tk13:
I was a huge fan of the pitch clock after seeing it in the minors. This I'm not real sure about. It'd never happen but if you really want to do this without creating all these weird exceptions just make the rule so a team can only carry 11 pitchers. Force teams to have to think about how they're using their pitchers.
If you go back down to 11 pitchers, do hurlers conserve or do they still go full throttle? I'm thinking because all the emphasis on swinging strike rate and K%, they still go full throttle. I think it would be tough to go back down to 11 pitchers with all the Tommy John surgeries that plagued the sport in April.
The other idea that was brought up as an alternative of the six-inning rule was to mandate that a starting pitcher had to rest five days after the day of their start. Maybe you keep the pitchers at 12 and do that instead.
Joe Sheehan wants baseball to move back the rubber. But then you have amateurs throwing from 60 feet, 6 inches and pros throwing at a further distance. I like the standardized distance. [Reply]
The pitching is arguably as tough as it's ever been with the sheer number of pitchers that throw in the high 90s and the fact that the pitching labs can help hurlers perfect their breaking stuff and a good number throw unhittable sliders.
But hitting approach is complicit, too.
Luis Arraez strikes out only 4.7% of the time, but his wRC+ is 103. He has been traded twice in the last two years. He's not valued by Major League Baseball.
The hitters know that selling out for extra base hits is what gets them paid.
Contact hitters like Steven Kwan and Nico Hoerner bring more to the table as defenders, but if you're not lifting the ball into the air, it's hard to hold a job in the sport. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Ocotillo:
The pitching is arguably as tough as it's ever been with the sheer number of pitchers that throw in the high 90s and the fact that the pitching labs can help hurlers perfect their breaking stuff and a good number throw unhittable sliders.
But hitting approach is complicit, too.
Luis Arraez strikes out only 4.7% of the time, but his wRC+ is 103. He has been traded twice in the last two years. He's not valued by Major League Baseball.
The hitters know that selling out for extra base hits is what gets them paid.
Contact hitters like Steven Kwan and Nico Hoerner bring more to the table as defenders, but if you're not lifting the ball into the air, it's hard to hold a job in the sport.
It’s also crazy how many defensive specialists there are who are some of the worst hitters in the history of the game. You’ve got guys like Joey gallo who have somehow built long careers off of being disgustingly bad hitters [Reply]
Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501:
It’s also crazy how many defensive specialists there are who are some of the worst hitters in the history of the game. You’ve got guys like Joey gallo who have somehow built long careers off of being disgustingly bad hitters
Gallo is the prime example of how MLB teams will tolerate a batter whiffing eight times in a series if he launches a three-run homer in one of the games. They'll take that trade off. Gallo walks of course, too.
Gallo, like Javy Baez, had his hey day. For a two month period in 2019, he played like an elite player. He shouldn't have a job in 2024 baseball though. Washington is starting him today even though he has a .168/.286/.316 slash line. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Dartgod:
How about just leaving the game the fuck alone.
Analytics has made baseball more boring than ever. Tons of pitching changes. Players never putting the ball in play. Shift stealing hits. Guys striking out a billion times. Less SBs. The goal is to make it as exciting as it was and remember when Nolan Ryan pitched like 260 ip with probably no UCL? Game went faster too.
I'd even vote for metal bats. I want dingers god damn it. 90s baseball was so awesome. Metal bats and you don't even need HGH and Barry Bonds dome head. [Reply]
Originally Posted by BWillie:
Analytics has made baseball more boring than ever. Tons of pitching changes. Players never putting the ball in play. Shift stealing hits. Guys striking out a billion times. Less SBs. The goal is to make it as exciting as it was and remember when Nolan Ryan pitched like 260 ip with probably no UCL? Game went faster too.
I'd even vote for metal bats. I want dingers god damn it. 90s baseball was so awesome. Metal bats and you don't even need HGH and Barry Bonds dome head.
Dingers aren't the issue. Three true outcomes are one of the prevailing outcomes of analytics.
It's the lack of suspenseful plays on balls in play where the defense is tested.
Screw metal bats. The asthetics of the crack of the bat is one of the appeals of the majors. Plus, it would never happen anyway due to pitcher safety. [Reply]
