The Era of the Pitch Count
August 7th 2010 05:05
The latest Mets debacle came tonight in Philadelphia. The Mets, who were up one run with six outs left in the game decided to go to the bullpen to start the eighth inning instead of sticking with their starter, Jon Niese. Niese was at 111 pitches, but still throwing strong through seven innings, only surrendering one run on four hits. Jerry Manuel decided to bring in Bobby Parnell, who had his second implosion of the week, giving up four runs on four hits and didn't get an out. At one point, the Phillies had seven batters consecutively reach base. It was a total melt down of the bullpen, who gave up six runs total in the inning.
The major question I had was why couldn't Jon Niese start the eighth inning? I didn't have to look much further than the pitch count for my answer. I understand the injury factor and the theory of trying to preserve a young arm. But you see it so often how a manager breaks up a starter’s rhythm on the mound once they get to a certain pitch count. Baseball is a game of momentum and I feel that in a big game when you pull a pitcher in the crucial innings of the game it is a momentum killer.
Looking back, it is amazing to see some of the complete game records in baseball history. For example, Warren Spahn led the league nine years in complete games with his most being twenty-six in a season. Another example being Robin Robert; in 1953 he had thirty-three complete games. Managers wouldn't even consider taking out their main man sixty years ago. The era of the pitch count has certainly transformed baseball. But has it transformed it for the good? I think it's a tough call when arm injuries are happening at a higher rate than ever and clubs are losing games in the late innings night after night. Will we ever see another era without pitch counts?
The major question I had was why couldn't Jon Niese start the eighth inning? I didn't have to look much further than the pitch count for my answer. I understand the injury factor and the theory of trying to preserve a young arm. But you see it so often how a manager breaks up a starter’s rhythm on the mound once they get to a certain pitch count. Baseball is a game of momentum and I feel that in a big game when you pull a pitcher in the crucial innings of the game it is a momentum killer.
Looking back, it is amazing to see some of the complete game records in baseball history. For example, Warren Spahn led the league nine years in complete games with his most being twenty-six in a season. Another example being Robin Robert; in 1953 he had thirty-three complete games. Managers wouldn't even consider taking out their main man sixty years ago. The era of the pitch count has certainly transformed baseball. But has it transformed it for the good? I think it's a tough call when arm injuries are happening at a higher rate than ever and clubs are losing games in the late innings night after night. Will we ever see another era without pitch counts?
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