Over the last two games, the Phillies have had pitchers who pitched two consecutive complete games. Some may be asking if it is too soon for pitchers to be going that deep into games, only about 12 games into the season.
Starting pitchers pitch around every five days. That is a good amount of rest for them, but when there are 162 games, it can get tough. By the end of the season, every player, including the pitchers is tired and worn out.
Some games, pitchers go three innings, other games they go all the way. But is it too soon in the season for complete games?
I say no. I think early in the season is the right time to have complete games. It is rare that a pitcher throws a complete game and gets the loss, even though Cliff Lee managed to do that twice. So if there is an abundance of complete games, that means the team wins. If you start the season off with a lot of wins, from a complete game or not, there is some wiggle room that comes along with that.
Up until the All Star break the season is pretty casual and when a team loses the response is usually “well, it’s still early.” After the All Star break is when the push for the post-season really starts. That is also the time when a lot of teams struggle. Coming back after the excitement and camaraderie of the All Star Game can be difficult even for the most seasoned players.
Some players even come back injured.
Winning a lot of games early in the season, from the help of complete games, leaves some room for error later in the season. It does put stress on the pitcher, however, it is no more stress that is on a player that hits, lets say 20 home runs early in the season. It’s what they get paid to do.
A lot of people say that it is the responsibility of the managers to not let pitchers go that far into the game, but I see it differently.
A managers decision to take a player out a game relies on a couple of things. If a pitchers pitch count is getting high, regardless of the score, a manager is likely to take the pitcher out of the game before pitches get sloppy.
It has happened before, last season if I remember correctly, where a manager took a pitcher out of the game when he was on the verge of a no-hitter. His pitch count was getting high
If the pitcher starts giving up a lot of hits, a manager will make the call to the bullpen.
Managers have been around in the baseball world for a long time and they know when and when not to pull a pitcher. They also have all the faith in the world in their pitchers and want them to succeed, so if that is with a complete game, great, if that is with them taking them out early to ensure no injuries or runs, that’s great too.
While complete games are more exciting during the post-season push and the actual post-season, they are just as much-needed early in the season.