The MLB Commissioner’s Office is reportedly considering a rule change that would require starting pitchers to pitch at least six innings per game.
MLB officials told ESPN that the league is looking to increase game time for starting pitchers and reduce injuries. The two ideas seem contradictory, but the league also reportedly wants pitchers to be more balanced in terms of strikeouts and hits. Pitchers who know they’ll have to play long games might slow down their velocity a bit to make it easier for hitters.
“We all want to go at least six times.”
“We are interested in increasing game action, restoring the importance of starting pitching and reducing the prevalence of pitcher injuries,” an MLB official said. ESPN“There are a variety of options available to address these issues.”
The aim is reportedly to prioritize starting pitchers while avoiding retaining struggling pitchers simply to pitch the minimum six innings.
To combat this possibility, several conditions need to be put in place. Among the exceptions proposed are those that would allow a pitcher to leave the game after:
- Throw 100 balls
- 4 or more earned runs
- After an injury, you will always be placed on the injured list.
“I’d do it anyway,” Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Seth Lugo said of the minimum requirements.
“We all want to go at least six times,” he added.
“This is such a bad idea,” baseball commentator Gary Sheffield Jr. told Blaze News, “so bad that the players would never consider it.”
Sheffield stressed that mandating such pitch limits would be extremely harmful to young pitchers.
“With the velocity that pitchers are throwing these days, most young pitchers are going to explode.”
Arizona Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen suggested slowing down the velocity was an inevitable outcome.
“That’s the tricky part because that’s where you get out,” Hazen explained.
According to Bleacher ReportIn 2024, MLB starting pitchers are averaging 5.25 innings pitched, while Triple-A starting pitchers are averaging 4.3 innings, which would seem to suggest that minor league development is necessary to extend major league starting pitchers’ lifespan by another 0.75 innings.
In recent years, teams have become very strict about the number of innings pitched by starting pitchers, with only 21 pitchers having completed a game in 2024. Only three pitchers have pitched at least one complete game: Kevin Gausman (TOR), Max Fried (ATL) and Christopher Sanchez (PHI).
In addition to the minimum innings rule, the league is also reportedly considering limiting the number of pitchers on a pitching staff and implementing a double hook DH rule.
The double-hook DH rule, currently being experimented with in the independent Atlantic League, means a team loses its designated hitter when it removes its starting pitcher from a game.
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