Pitch Counts - do they really help?

I think it's so stupid. John Sterling was driving me crazy with the pitch count crap. All he kept talking about was Wang's pitch count & that Torre would prefer for him to pitch 7 innings so that Chamberlin can pitch 1 inning & Mariano can pitch the 9th. It was as if in his own way he didn't want Wang to get the no hitter.

In some cases yes, in some cases no. I am a firm believer that the delivery of a pitcher should determine how long he should stay in a game. Soft tossing pitchers can stay in as long as they want, so long as they have control. Problem is, all pitchers try to achieve max velocity on their fastballs, so arms are going to get tired regardless. Also, pitchers who throw sidearm typically do not subject themselves to the same abuse that a flame-throwing 3/4 pitcher does. For safety's sake though, 100 pitches is usually where many pitchers start to hit the wall, and it's risky to both their health and the game to keep them in. Unreliable or not, that's why you have relievers.

Not a bit. If there were a drop in ERA or an increase in strike outs per innings pitched or a decrease in hits per inning it could be said that it helps. All that it does is make the mediocre pitchers have longer careers, the great pitchers have less impressive lifetime stats, and BORE THE FREAKING HECK OUT OF THE FAN when a team wins 7-2 and still uses 5 pitchers.

The purpose of the pitch count is to ATTEMPT to keep pitchers off the DL. Pitch count is only one part of that though. A lot of it has to do with types of pitches thrown, arm angles and arm action and rest. its the same reason why there is a big argument about what age you should learn certain pitches. A kid who starts throwing curves when he's in Little League has a higher chance of having elbow and shoulder issues sooner. Unfortunately they dont build pitchers like Cy Young anymore. If a pitcher is doing well I see no reason to pull him in the 7th or 8th due pitch count but dont EXPECT a guy to go out and throw 135-150 pitches every time out. Bullpen help may be really hard to come by but its not worth injuring someone to throw their arms out

Not statistics, but it does hurt them. Lots of pitchers who pitch too often or throw too many pitches go on the DL. Sore shoulders, dislocated shoulders it all happens because of overwork.

I'm not saying that a pitcher cant have an outing where they can go 130 135 but thats it. It depends on the guy too. Usually the athletes or the big guys like Sabathia Harang they can go a long distance.

I don't know if it really helps. But I guess it's nice to have. It mostly matters on how well the pitcher is doing. They just start wearing down after 100 pitchers. Their are some though, that make it through the whole game and I applaud them for that.

Pitchers are babied in today's game.

5 man rotations, 100 pitch counts.

I'm sure that having 4 games rest and being pulled early does alot for the health and longevity of a player's career, but compared to pitchers of the olden days, the thing that it hurts the most is the number of games won in the stats.

It drives me crazy when watching a game, a pitcher is kicking butt, then he hits 100 and has one walk, and then they pull him.

it didn't hurt the guys in the old days who were pitching 300 innings and pitching complete games.

but since so many players get paid millions and being as baseball today is A TOTAL BUSINESS AND NOT A GAME ANYMORE. that is why we see dudes being pulled on pitch counts. its a business choice nothing more. I don't want to hear how they are trying to save the kids career..or because its good for the team and game because the second a younger kid comes along they'll dump that other kid in a heart beat.

my booty that it is. only reason these fools do it because of the money investment

It is maddening at times. I'm a Mets fan and I thought Glavine should have gone out for the eighth the other night after 7 shutout innings. That way its on him to hopefully at least get the game to Wagner and take your chances. Its still mind boggling to me that a HOF pitcher would come out in any game like that, much less against his teams main opponent. No way Koufax,Marichal,

Ryan,Gibson, Carlton, Seaver are leaving that game.

I don't know about statistically but if a pitcher is near 100 pitches and pitching just fine in late innings (say 7th or 8th) I think he should stay in. Obviously you don't want a pitcher throwing 150 pitches every time out but once in a while it can't hurt.

it has. Look how sucessfull Bobby Cox's pitchers have been over the years. The are never allowed to pitch on less than four days rest unless there is some weird circumstance, and they are always pulled when they have reached the pitch count. Every pitcher has a different #, because not all pitchers throw the same way.