Starting Pitching 2019

Sandy Leon Trotsky

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Mar 11, 2007
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Now 9 of 12 ERs in the first inning.
Three of five starts giving up 3 ER in the first inning, then nothing else afterward.
I'm sure this is obvious but wouldn't the problem be HIS first inning.... whether that's the 2nd, 3rd or whatever inning. He's not coming in for his first X amount of pitches with the same intensity, focus or control or whatever that he has over his following X amount of pitches, and having an "opener" doesn't affect that at all. I guess it's possible it's the top of the order of the opposition, but then it'd be the same problem that an opener has.
 

AB in DC

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Jul 10, 2002
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Either way, you'd rather him have his low-intensity (or whathaveyou) pitches occur against the bottom the lineup, rather than hitters that can really mash.

But I guess we'll find out tonight.
 

DeadlySplitter

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Oct 20, 2015
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Price was only able to go 2 innings, 45 pitches in his "return". This rotation has been reduced to ERod, Porcello, and throw shit at the wall 3 days in a row - soon to probably include Chacin.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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Price was only able to go 2 innings, 45 pitches in his "return". This rotation has been reduced to ERod, Porcello, and throw shit at the wall 3 days in a row - soon to probably include Chacin.
What did you expect out of Price? He's been down nearly a month, so it's not like he was going to come out and throw 110 pitches today. Only getting through 2 innings on 45 pitches is disappointing, but I don't think he's necessarily shit being thrown against the wall moving forward. Nor is Eovaldi who is up to 80 pitches per outing and is bound to be allowed to go longer as long as he's effective.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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he had a simulated game on Tuesday. thought he was more ready than that.
More ready for what? More pitches? He threw 54 pitches in that simulated game though not exactly the same kind of pressure as you find in an actual game. I wasn't expecting him to throw more than 50 or so today.
 

The Gray Eagle

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The starters pitched 7 innings in the Angels series; the bullpen pitched 25.

On the 8-game road trip, the starters pitched 30 innings; the bullpen pitched 46.
 

richgedman'sghost

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The starters pitched 7 innings in the Angels series; the bullpen pitched 25.

On the 8-game road trip, the starters pitched 30 innings; the bullpen pitched 46.
In reality the starters pitched 6 innings and the bullpen pitched 26 since Taylor is a relief pitcher used as an opener. Hopefully this weekend will prove to be something of a statistical anomaly with the 15 inning game and Price's need to be slowly bulit up skewing the numbers.
 

InsideTheParker

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Jul 15, 2005
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This probably isn't the best place for this, but I am not sure where else to put it.
As we've suspected, the Red Sox starting pitchers are among the worst at extending the length of games:
The Boston Red Sox are averaging the longest games in Major League Baseball for a third straight year (tied with Dodgers in ’18). They lead the American League for a fourth straight season.
Boston’s 3-hour, 24-minute average (entering Sunday) is 7 minutes longer than any other MLB team for 2019.. . . . . .
Of the 157 pitchers who had tossed at least 70 innings this year entering Sunday, 156 averaged more than 20 seconds between pitch, per Fangraphs.com. Astros starter Wade Miley (19.4 seconds) is the only pitcher of the 157 under 20 seconds.
Red Sox’s David Price leads all 157 pitchers in longest time between pitches (29.6 seconds). Eduardo Rodriguez averages 25.6 seconds between pitches, Rick Porcello 24.0 seconds and Chris Sale 23.0 seconds.
https://www.masslive.com/redsox/2019/09/boston-red-sox-remain-mlbs-top-pace-of-play-offender-so-why-not-start-games-earlier-for-fans-sam-kennedy-weighs-in.html

The jist of the article is that Sox games are the longest, and it's affecting the fan experience. For example:
“Baseball’s kind of a hard thing for kids. ... Games are long," Brock Holt said Aug. 22 when children 18-and-under entered Fenway Park for free to watch Boston’s resumed game vs. the Royals. “And kid’s attention spans aren’t (there)— so as a parent, I’m not going to bring my kid to a 9-inning, 4-hour game."
I know that most of us stay in our seats at home until the bitter end of games played in Fenway, but it's increasingly difficult for fans who work and who have children to enjoy an entire game. The pitch clock will go into effect in 2022, but until then (and maybe afterwards), watching a night game at Fenway is no day at the ballpark.
 

stepson_and_toe

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Aug 11, 2019
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Ban batting gloves. Additionally, rewrite Rule 6.02 to prevent batters from wandering around after each pitch and enforce it. I timed a few batters who took pitches in last night's game and saw some who crossed the plate or stepped back and wandered around, fiddling with their gloves for 15 to 20 seconds before getting back into hitting position. And there are pitchers who will then delay delivery to batters who make them wait.

...but it's increasingly difficult for fans who work and who have children to enjoy an entire game.
I'm retired and there aren't any children and when I watch a game, I also read a book, do a crossword, or play solitaire on a tablet; however, doing something else while following a game extends back to my childhood as most games I followed were on the radio. These three-and-a-half hour games the Red Sox now have a penchant for playing have driven me to the point where I won't always watch them to their end. It's not so much the time involved as much as the constant nattering of the announcers, who tend to spend more of the time talking about anything but the game, and the commercials. I remember seeing commercials like, "xxxxx will fit any shape gas tank" or "with xxxxx gas, your car will even go backwards." Today I am inundated by advertisements for medications I cannot buy (because they require a doctor's prescription), which might even kill me if I were to take it...but I might lose 12 pounds. And the between-inning commercials now lasting until the first pitch of the inning is almost in the catcher's mitt and I haven't even gotten to commercials during the innings--during pitching changes, mound visits, etc., announcers adding voice commercials during breaks in play, brought to you by _____, official yyyy of the Red Sox.

What the fans can't fight is greed...unless they just stop watching and going to games.
 

InsideTheParker

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Ban batting gloves. Additionally, rewrite Rule 6.02 to prevent batters from wandering around after each pitch and enforce it. I timed a few batters who took pitches in last night's game and saw some who crossed the plate or stepped back and wandered around, fiddling with their gloves for 15 to 20 seconds before getting back into hitting position. And there are pitchers who will then delay delivery to batters who make them wait.



I'm retired and there aren't any children and when I watch a game, I also read a book, do a crossword, or play solitaire on a tablet; however, doing something else while following a game extends back to my childhood as most games I followed were on the radio. These three-and-a-half hour games the Red Sox now have a penchant for playing have driven me to the point where I won't always watch them to their end. It's not so much the time involved as much as the constant nattering of the announcers, who tend to spend more of the time talking about anything but the game, and the commercials. I remember seeing commercials like, "xxxxx will fit any shape gas tank" or "with xxxxx gas, your car will even go backwards." Today I am inundated by advertisements for medications I cannot buy (because they require a doctor's prescription), which might even kill me if I were to take it...but I might lose 12 pounds. And the between-inning commercials now lasting until the first pitch of the inning is almost in the catcher's mitt and I haven't even gotten to commercials during the innings--during pitching changes, mound visits, etc., announcers adding voice commercials during breaks in play, brought to you by _____, official yyyy of the Red Sox.

What the fans can't fight is greed...unless they just stop watching and going to games.
St&t, I'm with you. But both of us spend little money going John Henry and Co.'s way, so it's reasonable to focus on people who might stop buying tickets.
 

Mueller's Twin Grannies

critical thinker
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Dec 19, 2009
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Ban batting gloves. Additionally, rewrite Rule 6.02 to prevent batters from wandering around after each pitch and enforce it. I timed a few batters who took pitches in last night's game and saw some who crossed the plate or stepped back and wandered around, fiddling with their gloves for 15 to 20 seconds before getting back into hitting position. And there are pitchers who will then delay delivery to batters who make them wait.
I've always wondered why, in the interest if increasing pace of play, they don't just enforce the rules in the book more strictly, like the no stepping out, the 8 seconds or whatever it is for a pitcher to come to the plate once he's set, etc.

Seems to me that just tightening up the rules enforcement would likely shave 15-20 minutes off the average game. No more 10-minute ABs where a total of 8 pitches are thrown, just guys digging in, taking their hacks, and either advancing to a base or going back to the dugout depending on the result.
 

stepson_and_toe

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Aug 11, 2019
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I've always wondered why, in the interest if increasing pace of play, they don't just enforce the rules in the book more strictly, like the no stepping out, the 8 seconds or whatever it is for a pitcher to come to the plate once he's set, etc.

Seems to me that just tightening up the rules enforcement would likely shave 15-20 minutes off the average game. No more 10-minute ABs where a total of 8 pitches are thrown, just guys digging in, taking their hacks, and either advancing to a base or going back to the dugout depending on the result.
I agree. MLB could cut the time of games and improve pace of play by doing that but does MLB want to cut the time of games? The longer the games, the more advertising space, the more money they get from the networks. In the mean time, MLB tries to introduce silly things to "improve" pace of play, like waving the batter to first for an intentional walk (happens less than 1,000 times in a season).
 

Lose Remerswaal

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I agree. MLB could cut the time of games and improve pace of play by doing that but does MLB want to cut the time of games? The longer the games, the more advertising space, the more money they get from the networks. In the mean time, MLB tries to introduce silly things to "improve" pace of play, like waving the batter to first for an intentional walk (happens less than 1,000 times in a season).
Not really that true for the ads. Yes, for some pitching changes, but not for longer at bats. And when ratings drop like they have, ad revenue goes down
 

Mueller's Twin Grannies

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I agree. MLB could cut the time of games and improve pace of play by doing that but does MLB want to cut the time of games? The longer the games, the more advertising space, the more money they get from the networks. In the mean time, MLB tries to introduce silly things to "improve" pace of play, like waving the batter to first for an intentional walk (happens less than 1,000 times in a season).
I think it's one of those razor's edge catch-22s: on the one hand, more time means more advertising, which means more revenue, but, on the other hand, people hate sitting through games that drag on well past the three-hour mark, especially casual fans and especially those who go out to the ballparks for night games with families in tow, knowing full well that there is school/day care/work the next day, which affects the already-flagging popularity of the game. There are workarounds (like ads on uniforms) but I have a feeling the purists would have a collective heart attack if the Yankees suddenly had a Verizon logo on their jerseys.

I think they should get rid of the handwave IBB but doubt it's going to happen. But if they would just enforce the rules, there would be plenty of time to have that four-pitch sequence and it likely would take less than 45 seconds (at 8 seconds max in between each pitch, which totals out to 32 seconds from the time the pitcher comes set and deals the first to the time he comes set and deals the last, plus time for the catcher to fish it out and throw it back and for the pitcher to get ready for the set up, plus time for the batter to dump any gear at the plate before jogging to first) out of a game and really not affect pace of play that much.