Tom Seaver is not against pitch counts, but he thinks they should be customized to the pitcher. He also doesn’t like wasting pitches on poor hitters:
People say, “I bet the pitch count drives you nuts.” Heck no. I had a pitch count. My pitch count as a general rule was 135. And I knew how many pitches I had when I went to the mound for the last three innings. And I wasn’t going to spend eight pitches on the No. 8 hitter. On the second or third pitch, he should be hitting a ground ball to shortstop. It might not work like that all the time. But theoretically, you have an approach about how you’re spending your bullets.
I have to admit this drives me crazy. Pitcher get ahead of a poor hitter, then nibble. Go after him.
There’s plenty more interesting questions and answers at the link.
Since pitchers are rewarded/punished based on K/BB ratios, they see #8 hitters as “easy K’s” not just “easy outs”. Sometimes they are not necessarily nibbling, just going for a K.
If GB “counted” the same in contract negotiations as K, then pitchers might be more willing to let their defense do their work.
On top of that, SP’s aren’t going to get many CG’s anyway, since there are so many 8th/9th inning specialists on the team, warming up, and expected to get their innings in, too.