A couple of weeks ago, I was listening to a podcast show and a starting pitcher indicated that pitchers need enough time in spring training to build up pitch counts. This year, the spring training was 4 weeks long. And, I was just wondering whether a 4-week spring training wasn’t enough for MLB pitchers.
By far, 5 pitchers each tossed 25 innings or more and the 2021 NL Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes led the majors with 25.2 innings pitched. In the meantime, the 2021 AL Cy Young winner Robbie Ray joined the Mariners and he made 4 starts for the Mariners so far this season, tossing 25.1 innings. Sandy Alcantara threw 200+ innings last season and so far, he tossed 25.1 innings in 4 starts. 3-time Cy Young winner Max Scherzer already made 4 starts for the New York Mets and he posted a 1.80 ERA and a 0.76 WHIP in 25 innings. Moreover, Joe Musgrove led the Padres in innings pitched last season and by far this season, he already threw 25 innings, most among the Padres pitchers.
Some pitchers can eat more innings without using too many pitches, but some pitchers don’t. So, let’s take a look at the number of pitches.
There are 10 pitchers who have already thrown 360 pitches or more by far this season. Corbin Burnes used 393 pitches in 4 games. In his most recent two starts, he each used 107 pitches and 106 pitches. Meanwhile, Chris Bassitt already threw 382 pitches in 4 starts, but, in each start, he didn’t reach 100 pitches. Moreover, Max Scherzer threw 379 pitches so far and he used 100+ pitches in each of the most recent two starts. Furthermore, Carlos Rodon and Sandy Alcantara each made 4 starts so far. And, they each threw more than 370 pitches as well.
By far, Max Scherzer and Corbin Burnes each tossed two games with 100+ pitches. However, to date, there are not so many pitchers who reached 100 pitches in a game this season. Nathan Eovaldi used 101 pitches in his second start and he went 5 innings. Pablo Lopez went 7 innings with 100 pitches in his third start this season. After playing for 4 years in Japan, Nick Martinez agreed to a deal with the Padres. By far, he made 3 starts and he threw 102 pitches in his most recent start. Furthermore, Walker Buehler tossed a shutout against the Diamondbacks on April 25 and he used 108 pitches to get his first career shutout. In addition, Kyle Freeland, Shane Bieber, Logan Gilbert, Eduardo Rodriguez and Carlos Rodon each threw 100 pitches or more in their fourth start of the season.
We are now 3 weeks into the season. As we can see, in this month, it's not that easy to see a pitcher who reached the 100 pitch mark in a game. However, there were 14 pitchers who threw a complete game last April and among them, 7 pitchers went 9 innings. By far this season, Walker Buehler’s shutout is the only complete game. It will be very interesting to see if this is the only complete game this April.
No comments:
Post a Comment