Will MLB implement a six-inning minimum for starting pitchers?
As the league ponders yet another change in the name of speeding up the game, one has to wonder if will it have the desired effect and what else is to come.
Over the last few years, MLB has made a number of significant changes to the structure of the game in an effort to speed up the pace of play. From the pitch clock to mound visits, and even the widening of the runner’s lane we’ve seen and heard many complaints but in the end, players adjusted, and to an extent the league achieved its goal. Consider that in 2022 games lasted more than three hours, while this past season saw them clocking in at around two hours and 40 minutes.
MLB weighs up a 6-inning minimum for SPs
Though we mentioned it before, we should say again that in recent years MLB has become very concerned with the time taken for a baseball game to play out. To that end we’ve seen various tweaks made to where, when, and how’s of the game and so too have we seen varying reactions to said changes. Yet, to be fair, most have now become accustomed to the changes such that the game is in fact more streamlined now. Of course, as you can probably guess, the league isn’t finished and that brings us to the latest proposal: Implement a minimum of six innings for all starting pitchers.
According to ESPN, this is about restoring the “prominence of the starting pitcher”, while simultaneously reducing injuries. Are there exceptions to this rule? Apparently so. As per reports, if a pitcher throws 100 pitches, gives up four or more earned runs, or gets injured, he can exit the game earlier than the proposed six innings. Of course, this isn’t as simple as forcing pitchers to throw more pitches and that’s that. No, this is a move that will require several changes at various levels of the game, starting with the minor leagues.
Understandably, minor league pitchers would have to be developed in such a way that they increase their pitch count, while also building up a greater arsenal of pitches as they’d have to go through a lineup three times. As for injuries, one can only assume that endurance rather than velocity would become the main objective of training. ESPN’s report gave further context: “Proponents of a six-inning mandate hope the biggest impact would take place behind the scenes. The belief is that pitchers would have to stop relying so heavily on max velocity and would set up their training around navigating longer starts, rather than overpowering stuff. And, in theory, starters pacing themselves to pitch deeper into games could help curtail the alarming rate of major arm injuries suffered by pitchers - and also give hitters a better chance at the plate.”
Now, to be clear, these are early days and there has been no official decision taken on the proposed idea, however, should the league move forward, would it be such a bad thing? Surely it would be accurate to say that the large majority of pitchers step onto the mound with two intentions: Seeing out the entire game and giving up as few hits and runs as possible. of pitching the entire game. With that in mind, 100 pitches per game while suffering no injuries is a good thing, right? For the moment, MLB seems to be taking its time with this one but sometimes that’s exactly how you save time in the future which appears to be what the league wants to do.