If the Yankees end up losing the World Series because they can’t get good production out of a starter for the final three games, how will this affect the machismo argument regarding pitcher rest?
I didn’t think there was a machismo argument regarding pitcher rest. A few years ago, the Toronto Blue Jays wanted to go to a four-man rotation, but the pitchers on the team killed the idea. With the exception of Sabathia, it doesn’t seem major league pitchers are interested in machismo. Fans can make this argument all they want, but it’s not going to get a pitcher to threaten his career by regularly pitching on short rest.
What I’d like to see is pitchers not get five days rest. With days off, most teams should be able to work a rotation where the fifth starter only gets around 20 starts. That’s what makes the most sense to me.
Posted by David Pinto at 9:20 am | Pitchers | Permalink | 1 Comment
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November 3rd, 2009 @ 9:46 pm
I think that most pitchers could adjust to three days’ rest if they were trained to do so–but once a pitcher is used to four days rest, it’s going to be hard to get him used to only three, with a few exceptions. Given that starting pitching talent is awfully thin on the ground these days, it might behoove a forward-thinking team to orient their farm system around creating a four-man rotation at the major league level, with a robust bullpen to discourage pushing those starters too deep into any one start. If it is successful, other teams will follow.