Originally posted by rwingett
First of all, NOBODY currently has, has ever had, or will ever have, six quality starters. Nobody. You're just putting one more garbage pitcher into the rotation and decreasing the number of starts your good pitchers end up getting. I recognize that the four man rotation, with the insane number of innings pitchers used to log, led to an increased incidence itable, but I say it can be stopped. And it must be stopped now before it spreads any further.
Okay, first of all, when something is tried for the first time, NOBODY, has ever done it before.
This shouldn't be rocket science to you.
Second, you say no one has 6 quality starters?
Well, if a guy is on a major league roster, he should be good enough to pitch.
Furthermore, there are guys left in the minors who could start, IF there was a place in
the major league rotation.
This will cause teams to shift their development back to starters.
Look at the composition of major league rosters now.
Pitchers were all either starters or relievers. No one was groomed for a middle relief role.
Those guys are #5 or #6 starters. They settle for a role that gets them in the show.
Surely you can see that.
Now, I am not saying that anyone will have 6 #1's as starters, but yes, it is quite
possible to have 6 starting pitchers.
This will reduce arm injuries over time as well.
Also, it will allow clubs to stretch out their innings again without fear of over work.
Yes, your superstars may miss out on a few starts, but their innings pitched wouldn't
be significantly reduced. There wouldn't be any 300+ IP...the top would be 250 now.
Where is the rub there?
Are you saying you PREFER middle inning guys who eat 70-80 innings a year over
seeing starters stay in longer than 5 or 6 innings?
Pitch counts have been around for a number of years and are used because of the
wear and tear on the arms throwing every 4th day. Now most use every 5th day.
Your dramatization that "it must be stopped now before it spreads" borders on ridiculous.
Everyone said Billy Beane was an idiot as a GM.
His conception of sabermetrics or "moneyball" is now becoming standardized by several clubs.
Clubs with the young minds such as Theo Epstein in Boston and Andrew Friedman in Tampa.
Clubs who seem to be doing fairly well.
This was scoffed at originally as well.