I think that a fifth starter is a mediocre pitcher who takes away starts from other four guys who are better than him. Jim Palmer, Tom Seaver and Bob Gibson pitched in such rotations and they never copmplained about it. Imagine Santana pitching in 40 games instead of 32.
2007-01-05 06:01:19 · 10 answers · asked by ljjahn 3 in Sports ➔ Baseball
I agree w you, & I disagree w the answer about stats being subpar. Athletes today have access to beeter nutrition, conditioning & training regimens. Look at the 1970 Orioles.....4 yes FOUR twenty games winners on one club, Now there's something we won't likely see again. (It's rare now to have four 20 game winners in a league!)
The game is now geared to pitch counting, instead of observation, gut feelings, & talking to the pitcher (or catcher) Of course it's supposedly all about saving the arms of those 4-7 pitchers w 3 million $ (plus) contracts.
Jim Palmer's career wasn't shortened by being in a four man rotation either....& as I recall he was still in pretty good shape when the playoffs arrived.
I beleive the reason today's pitchers "need" the extra day of rest is because that is what they've been accustomed to their entiire baseball career, & their body is now consitioned to expect that time table,
The present situation isn't going to change tho....the players & their union would never allow it.
2007-01-05 06:49:53 · answer #1 · answered by SantaBud 6 · 2⤊ 3⤋
I agree that a lot of teams throw out a mediocre pitcher every 5th day (and on a few teams the 3rd and 4th starters are bad as well). But the game has changed and we will never see the 4 man rotation again. The biggest reason this is true is because of the amount of money they pay pitchers. It is a huge risk to pay a pitcher a lot of money, the risk increases with the build up of innings and teams are far more inclined to protect their investments.Back when they used 4 man rotations teams lost a great amount of pitchers to arm injuries and they never came back. It was easier to find arms then, there were fewer teams and even fewer pitchers in the major leagues so replacing a blown out arm was not a difficult as today. It is great to see dominant pitchers (like the ones you mentioned) but those kind of guys are few and far in between.
2007-01-05 10:52:56 · answer #2 · answered by viphockey4 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
To be honest a lot of 3 and 4 pitchers are mediocre. Why not just have a 2 man rotation? The problem here is that even if you did cut the rotation down to 4 pitchers, the managers would be forced to STILL limit the innings pitched. You'd start to see a lot of 4 and 5 inning games pitched by starters. Middle relief would actually become important in both leauges.
Overall pitchers would start to throw more innings and their careers will be cut short. I'd rather see Santana pitch for the next 15 years instead of the next 4 because he blew his arm out.
2007-01-05 06:38:01 · answer #3 · answered by yblur 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
It would be great but it would never happen. The game of baseball has evolved into a 5 or even 6 man rotation (Yankees last year). The truth is that managers figured out that pitchers pitch much better on 4 days rest than 3 days. The difference is so much more that it is better to pitch a mediocre pitcher than a great pitcher on short rest. This also makes pitchers better rested and ready for the playoffs in October. Also for the teams that sometimes pitch their Ace on short rest the stats are quite alarming how much worse pitchers do on short rest.
2007-01-05 06:10:26 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
I'm in agreement with you. I can't name a fifth starter with a winning record last year. What does THAT tell you?
In addition to that, as a manager, I'd eliminate platooning. Where did it become a rule that right-handed major leaguers can only bat against left-handed pitchers, and vice versa? If you get to the majors, you should be able to hit ANY pitching they throw at you.
Too many people try to turn baseball into rocket science. Put your best 8 position players on the field and be done with it.
2007-01-05 07:16:01 · answer #5 · answered by jpspencer1966 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If Santana pitched that many games he'd be less effective. It's all a trade-off.. pitch your best pitcher more, or keep your best pitchers are peak performance.
2007-01-05 07:07:45 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most pitches aren't effective after just 3 days rest. They need 4.
2007-01-05 06:55:58 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It would shorten a lot of careers. Especially if one or two of those "4" guys were to get hurt. Five is the magic number.
2007-01-05 06:29:58 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋
i think that is absolutly true it would give starters more starts
more starts=more wins
2007-01-05 06:41:31 · answer #9 · answered by yankeesalltheway 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
IT WILL GIVE THE PITCHERS MORE STARTS.
2007-01-05 10:32:33 · answer #10 · answered by smitty 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋