This argument focuses on the National League for reasons I’ll state, but it applies to a weaker extent to the American League as well.
Right now the starting pitcher throws on average six innings a game. The most common reason for him to be pulled prior to that is poor performance, the second most common reason is high pitch count (often related to poor performance). He throws as much as he healthily and effectively can unless the game runs into a special situation (like the conditions for a closer), and then he might be pulled even while being continually effective.
Because a starting pitcher throws so many pitches in a game, he needs several days of rest before he can be healthy and effective in his next start. Four days of rest is normal, three occurs in special situations or where his pitch count was exceptionally low in his previous start.
The normal rest period creates the necessity for a rotation of five starting pitchers during the regular season, moving to four or sometimes three during the playoffs (enabled by more off days). A typical team has five starting pitchers and seven relief pitchers, usually one of whom can occasionally start (such as for doubleheaders or injuries) as needed.
This system has certain strengths and certain weaknesses. One strength is that the starting pitchers pitch many more innings a year (around three times as many) as the relievers, thus allowing better pitchers to be starters and having more effect on the team’s success. Another strength is that the statistical convention of giving a pitcher a Win for completing the fifth inning with his team in the lead if that team holds the lead and wins the game favors being the pitcher during that pivotal fifth inning.
One weakness is that hitters improve over the course of the game against the same pitcher. Another weakness is that if your starting pitchers are good most of the seven relievers on your staff get to spend a lot of time staring at daisies in the bullpen instead of pitching. Furthermore, since it’s not known beforehand whether the starter is going to pitch three innings or eight innings you need the many relievers to cover the three inning possibility (as well as others).
Despite starting pitchers being the cream of the crop of pitchers (only comparable to closers in quality), they have a worse earned run average than do relievers. Partly this is due to the way ERA is calculated which favors pitchers coming in during an inning instead of beginning one, partly it’s due to starting pitchers having to face the dreaded first inning when the best possible lineup is selected to produce effective offense, partly it’s due to relievers sometimes getting to face favorable hitters (such as the righty/righty or lefty/lefty matchups), but the factor of not having to face a hitter multiple times is also key.
For the National League, do this instead of the present system: never let your pitcher bat, unless the game is so out of hand it won’t matter. Pinch hit in the 1st inning if you have to. Also: never let a pitcher face more than nine hitters, unless he is exceptional (I mean having an exceptional day, not just being a great pitcher). The common result of this policy means you’ll have five pitchers a game, each pitching no more than two innings. You’ll have the pleasure of watching your hitting stats approach the level of the American League with it’s designated hitter.
Because of the consistency, your pitchers will be throwing a fairly predictable number of pitches and their arm health can be easily maintained… also since they’ll only need a day of rest between stints (not even that as long as they pitch only two consecutive days) they will nearly always be available if needed (such as in a very close game where you need your ace to throw an inning).
While your best pitchers will still throw more innings, you won’t see the 3:1 ratio anymore. It will be more like 1.5:1 or at most 2:1. Pitchers with higher endurance, more quality, and who recover faster will get more innings. The downside of this is offset by these factors:
Since five pitchers (or more) are used each game, a manager can be very selective in determining who pitches. Instead of a manager not being able to use four pitchers at all during a game (due to them resting and waiting for their next start) all of his pitchers can pitch in the game if needed. This allows for more situational creativity: in a blow out game you can put in your worst pitchers and in a close game you can use your best pitchers instead of having them resting and waiting to start in what might be a blow out.
Because of the special nature of the first inning, it will still be beneficial to start the game with one of your best pitchers, and the closer role stays similar to how it is at the moment.
Because you’re using three or so more pinch hitters in a game than you were under the traditional system, your bench is depleted, making extra inning games more difficult (in the sense that eventually your pitchers would have to bat in extra innings). The upside is that your bench players get constant at-bats, engaging them and keeping them focused and practiced.
This system is weaker for the American League since you don’t have the pitcher batting anyway, but otherwise everything applies.
Upon a team implementing this system there will be some effects:
Pitchers who were previously starters will complain about the lack of innings (assuming they aren’t able to throw a couple innings more than every other day which I assume they can’t). They will also complain about the lack of wins, assuming the win rules remain the same.
Because you’ve closed the gap of value between starting pitchers and relievers, it will no longer be possible to pay a pitcher a very high salary, allowing more of those funds to be diverted into hitters.
In order to match the number of innings thrown by a starter in the current system, a pitcher in this system would have to throw two innings two out of every three games.
I consider this system to be clearly superior to the current one in the National League, and debatable for the American League. The biggest issue for implemention is the media storm following such a “corruption of tradition” as the papers would likely write.
This system is designed for the regular season. Because of the days off involved with the playoffs which means less pitchers are necessary, it may be better to use the traditional system there. Certainly in the American League at least.
