More unnecessary stupidity from the worst commissioner in sports history. I still hate the pitch clock and giant bases and all the other stupid crap that messed with a game that was just fine. Pitching minimums?? More Tommy Johns more better.
Pena's K-rate has improved. Its actually really impressive for a guy that struggles so much with sliders. Reality is he good easily end up as 2nd best SS in team history.
I am not as against that as everyone else seems to be, but I think it would be better to just limit the number of pitching changes to 3 per game (only one mid-inning), with exceptions for injuries (requiring an IL stint to follow) and extra innings.
Maybe they are worried that kind of rule would incentivize piggybacking - like teams would begin carrying a bunch of guys stretched out to throw 3-4 innings and that's it whereas what they really want to do is force starting pitchers to throw with less intensity per pitch to make the game easier for hitters and to limit pitcher injuries.
I’m not sure a 7th-8th SP in his 3rd inning would give up less runs than a 4th/5th SP in his 6th inning. And I’m not sure you can reasonably expect big league pitchers to take it easy as they try to make it thru 6 innings, so I’m skeptical their way would result in less injuries.
The pitch clock has been a success, bigger bases are decent, banning endless pickoff throws is long overdue. The Ghost Runner is utter nonsense and getting rid of actually pitching intentional walks adds nothing to the game. The worst he's done is help demolish the minor leagues (a scheme concocted by Jeff Luhnow himself, mere weeks before that same commissioner banned him from Baseball), and playoff expansion further diluting the regular season.
Why 6 innings when you only need to go 5 to qualify for the win. I could see 3 innings minimum to help take out the opener idea. All 6 innings would do is increase the price for a starting pitcher.
Also takes out the "bullpen games" we see in the playoffs and occasionally in the regular season. The way that pitchers arms are falling off, you would think the league would just add more arms to the bullpen/team, spreading the pitching load across more arms.
Go back to a 24 man roster with no DH and make any pitcher who enters a game ineligible for play or for assignment for three games.
Pitch clock and larger bases are good. That minimum isn't going to happen, but it is an interesting thought. Would put an end to the Opener.
Feels like communism openers should be allowed. Also, what if someone is at 100 pitches after 5 innings. Do you have to run him back out there? If so, that’s silly.
It's an absurd idea, even with the conditions. What about when a starter returns from injury and they are limiting him to 80 pitches in his first start back? What if he hits 80 after just 4 innings of 2 run ball? Stay in there and keep going anyway and if your arm falls off then tough?
One of the caveats was 100 pitches. So that's not an issue. I'm cool with the pitch clock, larger bases, and minimum batters faced for relievers. I'm also cool with the expaned playoffs. The ghost runner is stupid and should be done away with. But this 6 inning idea is just dumb and I hope there's no actual traction to it.
It is indeed an interesting thought experiment. In practice, it is a dumb ****ing solution to a non-existent problem.
This is probably in response to the pitcher injury epidemic. I have read and heard that MLB and MLBPA have different ideas about what is causing it (not surprisingly, each view coinciding with their agenda) MLB says they are because pitchers are 100% max effort for both velocity and spin every pitch and think making pitchers reduce this effort by having to throw more innings/pitches is how to fix the issue. More innings by fewer pitchers = smaller rosters and less owner payroll. MLBPA says the pitch timer is to blame.
Ghost runner is stupid. I don't think this has serious traction. I could really only imagine some starting pitchers allocating for it because they see it increasing their value if their used more. For the most part they would just be requiring the mindset of the typical philosophy. Go 6 innings or pull them at 100 pitches. It would cause too many issues with players coming back from injury, early season with pitchers still ramping up, and what happens if a starter is simply sick? And I just don't know how it improves the fan experience.
Well then this idea addresses that by requiring starters to throw so much they must pace themselves like 30 years ago.
