Pitcher question

There's something to be said for this argument but only as it relates to pitch counts.

Also, I'm sure the players association would have something to say to a team that drops to a four-man rotation.

 

The Braves broadcasters have made a very prominent point on why this is with Chuck James in particular. His ERA the first 75 pitches is outstanding, (I don't really recall the numbers) ... Pitches 76-100 it was good (mid-3's maybe) and after 100 it goes stratospheric.

The point about forcing deep counts is an important one, if for no other reason than by the third time through the lineup, every hitter has seen every pitch a pitcher has. With TV everywhere, everyone sees the successful teams working counts and wearing out starters, and more hitters have cultivated the skills necessary to get deep counts. I would throw out Jeff Francoeur's development as a somewhat extreme example. He already has as many walks this year as he had in all of 2005 and 2006.

Even the efficient pitchers have suffered. Glavine threw at least three complete games eight times in his first 13 full seasons. In the seven seasons since, he's only reached two in a season twice.

Greg Maddux' first 14 full seasons, he never threw fewer than five complete games, because he was efficient in an otherworldly way, but hasn't had more than three since 2001, and I think it's mostly because hitters are making him throw more pitches.

 

I spoke with a high school coach about his take on the pitch count last season. The was a pitcher in the minors and has been in baseball for almost five decades. He said, "I don't believe there's any measure in a pitch count; maybe they have something in the majors. But you can really tell when a kid needs to come out by if he's laboring. You can always tell when someone is tired on the mound."

It makes a lot of sense to me.

Here's Jeff Passan's column on Marshall's philosophy from May 10. I remember reading it a while ago, and it was pretty interesting.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=jp-marshall051007&prov=yhoo&type=lgns