As pitchers make higher and higher salaries as the years go by, they also throw less pitches. Whose idea was it anyway that 100 pitches was going to be the limit for starting pitchers? I wonder if the person that thought of this great idea also realizes that this idea of limiting starting pitchers to 100 pitches may also have led to the rise in traumatic arm injuries that we have seen in the game lately. Pitchers these days have under-developed arms due to this crazy idea that pitchers should only be allowed to throw 100 pitches in a game. There was a time when a pitcher was a warrior. These days, pitchers are for a lack of a better word, pansies.
Since the year 2000, the amount of games where the starting pitcher has thrown over 125 pitches has steadily declined. In 2007, there were only 14 games the entire season where a starting pitcher threw at least 125 pitches. The game is suffering from pitch counts and so are the pitchers. It seems every year more and more teams try to protect their pitchers, yet every year we see star pitchers succumb to arm injuries. Pitchers used to pitch until they couldn’t lift their arm anymore or until they couldn’t get anyone out anymore. If I see one more starting pitcher that is pitching a shut out get pulled from the game with two outs left in the ninth inning, simply because they are over 110 pitches, I will lose my mind. And these pitchers happily walk off the mound. How about having some pride and telling the manager to get his fat expletive back in the dugout so you can finish what you started. These pitchers aren’t tired. They are professional athletes! They are still getting batters out and throwing with the same velocity as they did earlier in the game. Would Bob Gibson let his manager take him out of the game? How about Nolan Ryan? I don’t even think their managers would have the backbone to walk out of that dugout in the direction of the pitchers mound. You know why? They were warriors.
I’m not really sure why teams have made this 100 pitch count so important. I’m sure it has something to do with protecting their million dollar investments, but I haven’t seen many pitchers careers extended since adopting the pitch count, nor have I seen a decline in arm injuries. So what’s the point? Let these pitchers start earning their paychecks and gain back their warrior image on the mound. The fans will be happy you did.
I can’t stand the fact that pitch counts have become such a big issue. Some guys are still old school and let their players go deeper into games, but for the most part managers are yanking their pitchers at or near 100 pitches.
Aside from the some of the exceptions such as Verlander, it seems like unless you are going for no-hitter you have not shot to reach 110+ pitches in a game.
I love baseball but this is becoming an epidemic. Thank god we still have some old school managers like Jim Leyland, Ozzie Guillen and owners like Nolan Ryan.
I totally agree. It’s ridiculous that none of these guys get to finish what they started.
The best pitchers on your staff are usually in your starting rotation. Those are the guys that can pitch more than 1 inning and get consistent outs. So why would you bring in some failed starter, who might be your 6th or 7th best pitcher on your team to finish off the 7th inning in a close game?
Makes absolutely no sense to me and it just pisses me off when I have to watch that stuff.
I tell you what … I know far too many kids from my days of playing that injured their shoulder in some manner from pitching in their youth. Not the “I can’t move my arm anymore” type of injury that required surgery, but the one where you could once throw 75 mph pain-free, and at some point you could no longer throw over 60 and/or without pain in that shoulder.
The baseball throwing motion is simply a terrible physical activity, something our arms were not designed to do with such regularity. The motion is violent, and by it’s nature damaging. There are techniques and approaches one can try that can reduce the damage (strengthening, mechanics, etc) but it’s still a dangerous process.
There is nothing more depressing about baseball than seeing a pitcher, who could once throw in the mid-90′s, who can now only throw in the 80′s due to one of these injuries.
Are pitch counts the answer? Not entirely, but I do think that a lot of people have put a lot of thought into them. In all physical activity, as we fatigue we tend to compromise our mechanics. I think that pitch counts exist mainly because they correlate with fatigue, not so much because of the number of repetitions the arm makes. Softball pitchers can throw thousands of pitches per week with no risk of injury, because the motion is repeatable even with fatigue, and also is not a harmful motion. Pitching a baseball is harmful, and proper mechanics are the only way to minimize the risk of damage, and when you are tired the body begins to slip on the mechanics.
So, if you ask me, the reason the pitch counts are 90-110 pitches is because that tends to be where a pitcher’s form breaks down. Seasoned pitchers tend to maintain their mechanics longer than your younger kids, who are still refining, which is why you see them with lower pitch counts.
These are just my thoughts. From someone who has pitched through serious shoulder pain, popping Advil to get through a start, I can say that I understand the pitch counts, even if I do not always want to see a guy pulled from a game when he has a lead.
Yeah I have to say that I agree old backstop. the natural throwing motion is under hand so that may be a big cause of it.
I think it’s all of it though. The pitch counts, innings limits, and way they move some of these guys from bullpen to starters. The going back and forth does them no good and could be a cause as well.