If you head to the ballpark and witness a pitcher throw a complete game, you hit the lottery. In MLB today, starting pitchers get about five innings before their manager yanks them. Many fans will tune into games to see aces such as Zach Wheeler, Paul Skenes and Chris Sale on the bump. And it’s unfortunate when these guys get pulled from the game after a few innings or after giving up just a single hit.
In the 2024 MLB season there was a record low 28 complete games pitched, continuing a trend of minimizing pitchers workload. It is a rare feat for pitchers to achieve a no hitter or even more so a perfect game but if they aren’t given the opportunity to stay in a full game, the already slim odds of achieving these accomplishments go to zero.
Dave Sims, the newly hired radio play-by-play broadcaster for the New York Yankees has had a seat in the booth for the past 18 years with the Seattle Mariners and has seen this trend of pulling pitchers early continue.
“They don’t give pitchers enough time to figure it out,” Sims said.
MLB managers should have confidence in their starting pitchers to get themselves out of jams instead of always going to the bullpen and trying to find a relief pitcher to bail out their starter. Starting pitchers like Wheeler, Jacob deGrom and Gerrit Cole are household names that are all getting paid over $35 million and should be able to stay in the game and show why they are getting paid the big bucks.
Along the lines of what Sims said, sometimes it takes pitchers time to settle in and get into a rhythm to see what is working for them.
Sure you can argue it’s a gamble for the manager whether or not to keep these guys in, but wouldn’t you take these box office pitchers over an average reliever? Blake Snell is one of three pitchers who pitched a no-hitter last season and it was the first time in his MLB career he pitched in the ninth inning.
Pulling star pitchers early robs fans from the full experience of enjoying a star-studded pitching matchup. I mean who wouldn’t want to see their favorite pitcher on the mound for more than five innings?
Big time pitching matchups is a selling point MLB has gone away from.
“You don’t get Bob Gibson vs Nolan Ryan anymore,” Sims said.
It’s hard to promote Skenes vs Cole when they play three to five innings. In the NFL you’ll get Patrick Mahomes vs Josh Allen and in the NBA, you’ll get LeBron vs Curry. However, this isn’t the case for MLB. Just like its counterparts, MLB needs to promote its star players to draw in the largest audience possible.
It’s safe to say that Nolan Ryan’s seven career no-hitters will stand the test of time with today’s MLB landscape.
If you’re paying your ace top dollar to pitch.
Well, let him pitch.
