In 5 years pitchers will be limited to 5 innings max per game and we will have 15 spots on the roster. Until then, it sounds like 6 man rotations or strict limits on pitches and innings and very deep AAA staffs are the way to go. (If you can find enough arms). Not to mention MLB pitchers who have options.
This is BS, pitchers these days don't throw enough, they throw their arms out emptying the tank in 2 and 3 inning stints, old school pitchers would start 40 games and go 9 innings regularly. These guys are breaking down because they aren't training them to go the distance. DD
Agreed. Teams should be finding a way to strategize a way to time the clock— almost like “controlling the clock” in football. It’s too new of an implemented piece of the game for any teams to realize/understand how to play it to their advantage. Sooner they realize everything (pitchers’ movements, length of time before pitch, check to first, etc)— sooner that team controls the game.
The thing is back in the 60',70's,80's starting pitcher use throw many more innings and pitches than SP's do today.
Not max effort. Not year round (or when they were in little league, which didn’t even exist). Less teams/players in the league (easier to scout). They were also smoking in between innings and had the fitness/diet regimens of the average BBS poster. https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/cooper-ever-climbing-velocity-pushes-hitters-to-the-brink/ Pitch clocks have nothing to do with these trends. I’m sure if they tracked spin rates back then, you’d see the same trend. The arm was never built to throw overhand repetitively. Even pitchers in ancient days, minus the select genetically blessed few, had arm breakdown/injuries (minus the surgeries to fix them, so their careers were just over). The pitch clock may produce extra transient strain for those set in the older regimen/routine… but things will adjust and players will figure out how to continue to throw max effort with this prescribed rest… and injuries will still happen.
This is true - but they were not maximizing spin rate, which puts tremendous pressure on the shoulder, elbow and even lower arm. Plus back then, lots of guys would get hurt after a year or two and were gone and lost to history. The Nolan Ryan’s, Tom Seaver’s and Phil Niekro’s were the outlier. Even Nolan Ryan said that the velocity comparison between the past and now isn’t fair because guys like Ryan gave 75% for 150 pitches a game instead of 90% for 70 pitches or 100% for 15 pitches. So the increase in velocity is part better science, better mechanics and teachers - but it is also a tactical change. Remember, Ryan was told around age 30 by Dr. Jobe he needed Tommy John surgery because of a tendon tear. Ryan instead didn’t pitch for 6 weeks over the winter and pitched another 15 years at his usual 75% effort and only retired after the it completely tore on his last pitch.
Big part of the equation that gets left out is how much better bullpens are now as well as coaches knowing the exact stats of going through the order that 3rd 4th time. in the 60’s no team in the league had a Bryan Abreu throwing 98 with a filthy slider dotting up corners as just a 7th inning guy. Then Presley and a Filthy Hader closing the 8th and 9th. That would be a generational sight to see back then, today it’s just a top 5 bullpen in the league. Point being you wanted your starter going 9 back in the day. But now there’s so many quality arms it can be better to hand the ball off.
Agreed, but starters shouldn't be blowing out their arms as much, since they're pitching less innings.
Doubtful any of the pitchers in the 60’s or 70’s were throwing in little league in the 50’s when it expanded. Add military obligations to a lot of players from that era and there was even less full-time baseball playing going on… completely different in today’s game.
Yes… but were you throwing 150 MLB pitches/game in the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s??? Haha. Even some current pitchers like Verlander said they never really started throwing a bunch of breaking stuff or full-time until late HS, early college age. Not so much the case with pitchers being groomed now. Its also telling that pitchers of those previous eras (like Nolan) don’t hide their disdain of young kids getting their arms pushed to the limit.
exaclty . it’s about the effort level and spin rate . Pitch cloth may exacerbate, but going for 100 , 1 rep maxes is way more taxing than going for 500 reps at 50 percent . I don’t even know that I buy hitters are too good . I think pitch quality in terms of stuff (movement and speed is higher ) , but sequencing and location and deception have gone down . even “pitch tunneling” is predictable . Pitchers nowadays lack pitch ability . Who even calls their own game anymore ? It’s all catchers , coming down from coaches and staffs with analytics in mind good for the short term , but great long term imo
