Stark: Is the future ominous for starting pitching?

From SABR member Jayson Stark at The Athletic on June 27, 2018:

A progressive​ front-office man​ for a winning team is talking about​ pitching,​ the Tampa Bay Rays​ and the​ future of the​ sport​ he​​ loves. The more he talks, the more obvious it becomes.

The future scares the hell out of him.

He has “no problem” with the Rays per se, he says. He understands what has led them to trot relief pitchers out there to “open” (but not “start”) the game three or four days a week. What he wonders, though, is this:

Has anyone in charge of this sport thought through the long-term reverberations of this otherwise creative and thoughtful innovation?

Read the full article here (subscription required): https://theathletic.com/410036/2018/06/27/stark-is-the-future-ominous-for-starting-pitching-and-if-so-what-would-that-mean-for-baseball/



Originally published: June 28, 2018. Last Updated: June 28, 2018.