Today’s MLB Pitchers really aren’t weenies
Does anybody even call anyone a weenie anymore? There are readers who know the term well and know what the headline means and think that, well, today’s pitchers when compared to those of yesteryear (pre-1990) are not as durable, not as tough, and not as good. Weenies! These veteran fans of course know that today’s MLB hurlers fire the pitch at consistently higher speeds than the game has ever witnessed. They also know that hitters can study video and stat trends that were not available 50 years ago. Hitters AND pitchers are smarter, in better shape and more often play close to their peak performance than ever before. They need to go all-out, all-the-time, just to survive at the major league level.
We all know pitchers pitch less than they did 50 years ago. Sandy Koufax threw 335 2/3 innings in 1965 and 323 innings in his final season 1966. He also posted 27 complete games in both years about 2/3 of his starts. Nolan Ryan also threw 300 innings twice and more than 284 innings 3 other times. Mickey Lolich threw 376 IP in 1971 and Wilbur Wood topped that the very next year with 376 2/3! As recently as 2003 Roy Halladay threw 266 innings for the Blue Jays. Only Justin Verlander has topped 250IP for a season (251 IP in 2011) since.
In 2022 the MLB leader in innings pitched was NL pitcher Aaron Nola with 230 2/3 IP. NL Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara led the majors in complete games with 6 — twice as many as any other pitcher. For his career Cy Young started and completed 749 games of the 906 games in which he played — that’s starting and completing 82.7% of the games in which he played. 511 were wins but he also completed 315 games in which he was the losing pitcher!
My Dad, were he here, would rhapsodize about how the pitchers of the 1950’s, 1960s, and 1970s, would pitch the WHOLE game and do it all the time. Robin Roberts in the 1950’s carded seasons in which he regularly threw more than 300IP with a ton of complete games. Bob Gibson, Juan Marichal, Warren Spahn, Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, and of course the great one as noted above, Sandy Koufax, all were complete game specialists. Yet in today’s game it’s possible if not likely, that all would be 6 or 7 inning pitchers. That’s not easy for long-time baseball fans like me to accept.
Why can’t today’s MLB starters complete what they start? Two words. MLB hitters. Ok that’s 4 words. Today’s MLB hitters are so good that we underestimate how difficult it is just to make contact, with a 99 MPH sinking fastball, or 95MPH wipe-out slider. MLB players can often do something productive with those pitches as opposed to only taking advantage only when hitting a pitcher’s mistake. Technology also plays a part. Hitting machines are much more sophisticated than the old Iron Mike. They can be dialed to the specific pitch type, spin and velocity desired. If you’re not a baseball player try going to the local batting cage, and simply stand there with a bat in your hand while in the fast pitch lane. You will walk out wondering how anyone could ever hit a ball going faster than that. Video review during the games can also aid hitters in better understanding what the opponent’s starting pitcher is doing or trying to do.
What’s left for pitchers to do in response? They must continue to make nearly every pitch with maximum effort. 80 or 90 of those non-stop highest-intensity pitches is much more tiring and draining than being able to let up a little bit during the game as was the case in MLB for many years. The days of the weak number 8 hitter followed by the pitcher (until the DH in the AL in 1973) enabled pitchers to sail through the bottom of the batting order. Today’s MLB lineups do not afford that luxury. Shortstops are no longer weak hitting good fielders. Every position on the field save for catcher requires players to perform both with the bat and at least adequately, in the field except for DH. When Robo-umpires call balls and strikes (which might be as soon as the 2024 season) and catchers will no longer be able to frame balls for strikes, those catcher’s batting statistics will have to rise since their defensive value will be compromised.
Today, 90 pitches is akin to the 120 or more pitches that might have been thrown by the starter 50 years ago. It’s hard to fathom how Sandy Koufax once threw 205 pitches (third most all time) in a game in 1961. We shouldn’t wonder why Sandy had all those arm problems. Nolan Ryan, he of the rubber arm, threw 235 pitches in a 1974 start for the Angels vs. the Red Sox — which is generally accepted as the most since total pitches were recorded. No MLB pitcher will ever throw 200 pitches in one game again.
And it’s not as if today’s starting pitchers, stars and otherwise, don’t desire to throw complete games. They all understand the value of going deep into a game and whenever possible finishing what they started. Will it become even more difficult to throw a complete game with the institution of the pitch clock this season? You may have heard of Greg Maddux spinning a 77-pitch complete game gem in 1997 that took 2 hour & 7 minutes. Greg Maddux never needed a pitch clock. But stress during the game has today’s starters and pitchers working more slowly than ever. It’s still possible that a pitcher can get into a groove, work quickly and efficiently and sometimes that is exactly what can throw a hitter off. The faster pace of the game may benefit pitchers more than hitters, but it also will be more difficult for pitchers to throw max effort on every pitch in a shorter overall cadence.
Late inning relief pitchers off enter the game during high leverage situations. They need to be on point from pitch #1. It’s amazing how many good relief pitchers have difficulty in non-save or non-high leverage situations. It’s as if their collective psyches are wired for high-stress situations and when that’s not the case it’s harder for them to succeed. But these max-effort-on-every-pitch pitchers rarely pitch more than one inning. Major League starters are another story altogether.
For so long MLB pitching has been about the starting pitcher pitching the most innings, being paid the most money, and attaining the highest glory. The way baseball is going it’s conceivable that a pitching staff might one day consist of (9) 3-inning pitchers pitching every 3 days. Some days you will need one of the 4 additional pitchers to fill out a pitching staff of 13.
The cynic in me wonders if owners would not prefer pitching to be that way. Wouldn’t it be a less expensive option to have 9 pitchers interchangeable that could pitch 3 innings every 3 days? It does not seem that there would be any $50 million pitchers in that scenario. Don’t worry that I am giving MLB owners an idea they have not already thought about. But it is something to think about.
However, calling today’s starting pitchers, weenies or otherwise, unequal to their forebears, is patently unfair and incorrect. The game is not being ruined, baseball is continually evolving, and the level of athleticism and play has never been higher. If you think it’s that easy to be a hitter, then go ahead and stand in there and find out for yourself. You don’t even need to swing the bat.
About the Author: Mark Kolier along with his son Gordon co-hosts a baseball podcast called ‘Almost Cooperstown’. He also has written baseball-related articles that can be accessed on Medium.com and now Substack.com
