July 23, 2010

Proof: Starting Pitchers Are Wimps These Days

Starting pitchers simply do not last as long as they used to 20+ years ago.

In 1988, they averaged 96 pitches per game

In 2009, they averaged 95 pitches per game

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Alan -- you may want to point out that 1988 was the first year that BP has data for Pit/GS. Otherwise it looks like you're cherry-picking data.

allan said...

At the first link posted: "Complete pitch data goes back to just 1988 ..."

I'd love to go further back, but I can't.

1988: 96 pit/GS
1990: 93 pit/GS
1995: 94 pit/GS
2000: 97 pit/GS
2005: 95 pit/GS
2009: 95 pit/GS

laura k said...

Please stop confusing our story with facts.

Amy said...

But if more pitchers pitched complete games (is that not true also?), were they just more efficient?

I wonder how many pitches were thrown by starters in the 60s and 70s. 1988 seems like a fairly modern cut-off date.

Rob said...

I take it as a combination of more patient hitters today and pitchers who tend to nibble.

The difference between then and now is sometimes a pitcher would throw a ton of pitches. It happened back then. It also happens now but a lot less.

That's what I gather from it, anyways.