Do you need less pitching during a 20-game season?

March

I talked to some of the guys from Kennedy on Monday and one of them brought up an interesting point. With four fewer games on the schedule this season, pitching depth may not be quite as important. The games will be spread out more and the top two starters should be able to shoulder more of the load.

Let’s look at Kennedy. The Gaels played 23 games in 52 games and they were started by: Nick Modico (8), Rich Lennox (7). Ryan Tatnell (5), Joe Santangelo (2), Matt Bidwell (1). Without the three (or for some teams four) additional games, would Kennedy have needed a fourth and/or fifth starter? Maybe. Rainouts always cram one or two weeks of the season. But maybe it’s the No. 3 who isn’t used as often.

Either way, fewer games won’t mean fewer starts for guys like Sean Hagan, Robbie Aviles and Steve Green. They’ll still take the ball every five or six days. It’s the guys behind them in the rotation who won’t be relied upon quite as much.

Fewer innings will help some teams. They won’t face those one or two games where, out of necessity, a hard-throwing shortstop comes in as a reliever and pretends he is a pitcher. That never works out well for anyone. Instead, the top three or four guys on a staff may pitch all the innings (relief included).

If I were a coach, my only worry would be in the playoffs. The third game in four days, (a.k.a. the semifinals) can still rear its ugly head. Will they have to call on a reliever in the sixth inning of a one-run game who has thrown 2 2/3 innings rather than 14? Definitely possible.

Anyway, do you think a slimmer schedule will benefit pitching staffs? Yea or nea.

Note: This post was written in advance. I will be out of the office on Mar. 25 and 26. If you have questions, concerns or corrections, please e-mail them to either Mark Teirstein at mteirste@lohud.com or jhumenn@lohud.com. I will return on Mar. 27.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 6:22 am by Josh Thomson. Print | Email

One Response to “Do you need less pitching during a 20-game season?”

Pitching and Defense March 26th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
I think it may benefit the pitching staffs in the beginning of the year but you have to worry come sectional time if it may hurt the teams int he long run. If a situation with 3 games in 4 days does present itself then you will end up with a kid that doesn’t pitch much which may hurt a team. Also, you have to wonder if this may lead to more arm injuries being that there could be 3 games in 5 days a team may be reluctant to throw their number 3 in the 3rd game and go with their ace on 3 days rest. Some kids are blessed with great rubber arms and others just aren’t. I just hope that coaches aren’t tempted to throw these kids out there on 3 days rest when they just haven’t bounced back yet. I’m sure the coaches will exercise great discretion when doing this but the temptation is always there. In some cases, if you ask a kid to take the ball…almost no competitors will say that they aren’t ready to go out there. So it’s up to the coaches to make sure they are using their young pitchers wisely.

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