I can't listen to or read baseball commentary anymore without listening to or reading about incessant details about pitch counts! If a pitcher has a rhythm and has found a groove, who cares how many pitches he's thrown? What about the pitchers that totally blow it in the first inning?? It's like they have a new stat to fret about all the time now...
2006-08-23 11:30:21 · 13 answers · asked by Bingo's Mommy 5 in Sports ➔ Baseball
John -- pitching coaching should be obsessed with all aspects. Listen to a NYC broadcast from eitehr team and you'll hear them all go on and on and on about pitch counts....
2006-08-23 11:38:52 · update #1
JW -- absolutely a pitching coach should control the number of pitches rookies toss, but don't most older pitchers last about 6 innings anyway? It's such an overused stat I get annoyed listening to.
2006-08-23 11:40:29 · update #2
I think they need a balance. They shouldn't obsess about it, but I think it's a good point to mention at times. I do agree that it gets annoying sometimes, but it's not only pitch counts that they obsess about - it's lefty/righty matchups, the batter's career stats against a pitcher based on a tiny sample size, what a manager should do in any situation, etc.
On the other side of this argument is Tim McCarver, who recently said that pitch counts don't mean much. I don't agree with him at all, but I do think there are some commentators who lean that way.
2006-08-23 11:59:24 · answer #1 · answered by Craig S 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Makes me glad I grew up when I did.
Watching baseball in the 1970s, we could tell when a starting pitcher was losing his stuff by the way the opponents would start hitting against him. We never had any idea how many pitches anyone threw in a game... sometimes we'd start counting and would lose track halfway through the game because of all the other stuff that was going on... I don't think we ever finished counting pitches.
As for commentators, yes, they're following suit of the managers and coaches, who are REALLY the ones obsessed with this pitch count stuff...but what are pitch counts, when it comes down to it, from an announcer's point of view...yup, you guessed it...another STAT.
2006-08-23 14:05:42 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pitch count dictates how long a pitcher can pitch. Relievers generally don't throw more than 3 innings, so 30-40 pitches would be a good marking spot as to when they'll be out of "it". Starters usually go 5-6 innings, and throw much more pitches. Most relievers are contact pitchers, they let the batter hit it and let the fielder make the play. More starters are strikeout pitchers. They have to throw more pitches to get the strikeout than if they were to throw the ball and let the hitter hit it.
2006-08-23 12:27:17 · answer #3 · answered by Nowhere Man 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The pitch count is extremely important to i think everyone it lets fans and the manager/coaches know if the pitcher of their team or the opposing team is getting tired soon ( in the opposing case it's easier to hit off a tired pitcher) I think commentors talk about the pitch count to inform the fans of this Pitchers that blow in the first inning usually are already tired/sick before or dont have a grip on their skill/confidence
2006-08-23 12:28:29 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
They just want to keep track of how many pitches they have thrown. No need to get testy. There are 162 games in a season and more for playoff teams. If a pitcher throws 150 pithes a game for the 35 starts that he gets every year, how ready is he going to be for the playoffs? It is more to keep healthy. A pitcher appriciates that the coaching staff is keeping an eye out for them. Otherwise they would be flash in the pan players. They are getting paid a lot of money and teams want them to produce. Not get injured. Good idea, dont ya think? As for comentators talking about it. Yeah it is a boring stat, but its important to the coaching staff. Comentators really should focus on talking about important things like the batting avg of a platoon player that spent the night in a marriott in hoboken. while his wife was giving birth to a jumbo sized boy, who will be expected to live up to the life his father has. Oh, did i go too far?
2006-08-23 11:53:49 · answer #5 · answered by guttermouth029 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
For the young pitchers, the pitch count is used to control the number of pitches that is thrown, this is to hopefully keep the young pitchers from hurting their arms. With older pitches, the opposing teams will try to tire the pitcher out. Usually when a pitcher becomes tired, his ball control is not as sharp or as fast.
2006-08-23 11:36:44 · answer #6 · answered by J W 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
It gives the people an idea where the pitcher is at in terms of the pitchers control and sometimes they mention a batter's average on a certain count and that gives people an idea of the hitter's ability but still they shouldn't obsess over and they don't usually obsess over it they just mention the pitch count.
2006-08-23 13:20:22 · answer #7 · answered by Jack NYY #1 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
we've come a protracted way in pitching philosophy. did you already know Sandy Koufax as quickly as pitched an entire recreation interior the mid-1960's ... in spring preparation? even however he had a historical past of arm worry? I fairly have little question that a lot of careers have been ruined by ability of such abuse over the years. some older pitchers in all probability can cope with it, however the money is only too super to objective to tension youthful pitchers to bypass deep into video games.
2016-11-05 11:48:00 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
many times the pitch count helps decide whether a pitcher should be taken out or not. if its the third inning and hes almost thrown 80 pitches, it may be time to take him out. but i agree, its not really for the commentators to worry about
2006-08-23 11:39:17 · answer #9 · answered by . 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
It's the managers and pitching coaches who are obsessed with pitch counts. The commentators and broadcasters are just following suit.
2006-08-23 11:33:19 · answer #10 · answered by John C. 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋