Atlanta Braves have lots of young pitching…but will that really matter?
There is a trend going around in baseball about pitching. It’s not a good one. And if rumors of change become reality, then it’s going to get a lot worse.
In 1997, the Atlanta Braves‘ starting rotation threw 1,096.2 innings between them. Since 1980, that has been the team record, with similar numbers (within 60 innings) in 1992-93, and 1998-2000.
Starting pitching has been the hallmark of the franchise, but of course there were 3 Hall of Famers anchoring the mound in those years.
Throwing out the strike years of 1981 and 1994, and some of the least innings from Braves’ starters were recent: 2016 (880.1), with 2017 ranking 4th (914.1… thank you R.A. Dickey).
The Braves are trying to get back to some more dominant starting pitching now, but there’s a major concern I see on the horizon… one exhibited strongly during this year’s playoffs: the reluctance of a manager to let starters go deep into games.
There’s Reasons
Sure, I get it: in a do-or-die scenario, managers feel like they can’t afford to allow a pitcher to work himself out of trouble – especially after a couple of runs have already scored.
The poster child for this in the “How to Handle Pitchers” book that every manager gets constant video updates on in Yu Darvish.
You saw this: it was World Series Game 7.
- First inning: 2 runs scored by Houston
- Second inning: 3 more, and Darvish was gone. The Astros were never challenged after that.
Was that the right move in that instance to remove Darvish? Probably – and frankly, the Dodgers had little choice. But so many pitchers are not even being permitted to get to the 3rd trip through lineups, it seems.
In their series vs. the Astros the Yankees’ starters went 6, 4, 6, 5, 7, 4.2, and 3.1 innings. In the Indians’ series (which they won, of course), it was 3.1, 5.1, 7, 7, and 4.1 while the Indians starters went 6.2, 2.2, 5.2, 1.2 and 3.2.
I was actually surprised to see 3 instances of 7-inning stints. But none of these outings saw any starter see the 8th… and that was rare for other clubs as well.
Heck, Justin Verlander’s complete game in the ALCS was talked about reverently until the end of the world Series!