Major League Baseball Wants to Manage Your Team's Pitching Staff
Major League Baseball has proposed a series of rule changes for pitchers, here's what they proposed
SPORTS
John Siebels
9/2/20243 min read
The MLB has instituted a plethora of rule changes in recent years. Some of these rules, like banning the shift and the implementation of a pitch clock have been successful in increasing the amount of offense and speeding up the game. These changes have been beneficial for the league as more casual fans are able to enjoy the increased action and shorter time commitment to watching a full game, despite objections from the ‘purists’. Others, like the ban on so-called “sticky stuff” haven’t added anything to the game and have likely been detrimental to the health of this generation of high velocity fireballers. Finally, rules such as the three batter minimum for pitchers actively restricts a manager's ability to do their job, and these types of rules that I want to address.
In recent days, reports have come out regarding another potential new rule change requiring starting pitchers to go at least six innings. This, like the three batter minimum, are taking away one of the most important roles of the team manager and affect their ability to strategically out-maneuver the opposing team. I understand the desire to speed up the game and keep the big money pitchers on the mound longer. I love watching the top arms toss seven to eight innings as much as the next guy and I was disgusted by the pulling of Paul Skenes in the midst of a possible no-hitter. But I also love watching a top-tier manager be able to actually manage a game and make decisions that he or she is better equipped to make than fans and league executives. The managers know their pitchers and can assess their capabilities. Forcing a player to pitch an extra inning when he has clearly run out of gas is silly. It will inflate ERAs and potentially lead to injuries. Personally, I think the fix is much worse than the problem in this case.
So far this season there have been 25 complete games thrown, three of which resulted in no-hitters. This number is on pace with recent years, as there were 35 thrown in 2023 and 34 in 2022. These numbers are also coming at a time where it is harder than ever for a pitcher to get through a full game. In June of 2021 the league began mandatory checks for “sticky substances” on pitchers hands, thus limiting their ability to safely grip the ball. This led to much push back from pitchers who pointed to the correlation between injuries and velocity and argued that a less secure grip on the ball could exacerbate the issue. Then in 2022 the MLB changed roster limits to make it so MLB teams could only carry 13 pitchers, obviously making pitcher injuries an even bigger concern for teams. Now, the league wants to go a step further and take away the manager's ability to actually manage his or her own pitching staff during the course of a game.


To the MLB I recommend taking the win on recent rule changes that are actually positively affecting the sport and don't get carried away. Just because you successfully fixed a few problems doesn't mean that there are always more to be addressed. I would much rather watch young stars like Tarik Skubal or Paul Skenes go 5 innings a game all season than have them go deep every outing and risk injuries that could derail a promising young career. Pitchers are competitive athletes, and they hate to give up the ball. If a young pitcher is still strong and effective, he will gladly stay in for another inning, and his manager will likely allow it. In the rare instances when a pitcher is on a strict pitch count, there is likely a good reason for it. In conclusion, there is so much to celebrate in the sport right now that maybe it is time we take a break from focusing on what is wrong with it.
John Siebels is the owner of Springhill Sports Cards, he collects and sells sports cards on Ebay, you can find him on Instagram and his Ebay store here

