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Are they going to be the future of MLB? I ask this question based on a tweet from Scott Lindholm.
#MLB Don't take pitchers who can make 30+ starts in a season for granted–pct of total starts by this type of pitcher is dropping precipitously pic.twitter.com/AivsCRjYs1
— Scott Lindholm đź“Š (@ScottLindholm) February 28, 2018
Rangers and Angels are going to a 6 man rotation this season. I expect other teams to follow if they have success with it.
I am in a computer league where we play roughly 40-games seasons using a theme to select the teams. I usually have a Cardinal team, and in the latest project I am managing the 1957 team.
One thing sort of odd about that team, is many of the pitchers were used both as starters and in relief. No pitcher started as many as 30 games. The main starters started 20-some games, but also relieved in 15-20 games.
I wonder if this might be something that could come back. You do not start guys as much, and go with a 6 or 7 man rotation. But those starters get more relief appearances.
I have not, but am going to pursue that as it is intriguing, especially given the norms for pitchers in that time. For that Cardinal team, it might have been mostly manager Fred Hutchinson’s beliefs. “Hutch” was a pitcher, and maybe he had some thoughts on using his pitchers that way. But I looked at his 1961 Cincinnati Reds pennant winners, and that staff was used more in line with tradition. Thus it was probably more the personnel on that ’57 staff. Maybe Hutch was experimenting to a degree as well.
Here are some of the pitchers on that staff, with the first number being the games they pitched, and the second being the starts:
Larry Jackson: 41-22
Vinegar Bend Mizell: 33-21
Herm Wehmeier: 36-18
Willard Schmidt: 40-8“Toothpick” Sam Jones, later traded for Bill White, was the only guy that was a pure starter, making a club-leading 27 starts and only one relief appearance. Lindy McDaniel started 26 of his 30 games. They also had some “pure” relievers, Lloyd Merritt and future Hall-Of_Famer Hoyt Wilhelm who made 44 and 40 bullpen appearances respectively.
In total that team had seven pitchers make 13 or more starts, with Jones’ 27 the most and a couple of guys making 13, youngster Von McDaniel and veteran Murry Dickson.
Also similar to today, the innings pitched by pitcher were not great. Jackson’s 210 lead the club, while no one else hit 200 IP. This was at a time where pitchers would sometimes get over 300 IP.
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