The one thing about baseball that makes it special is the ace. A guy like Justin Verlander is worth the price of admission and can make hitters look like they need to go back to the drawing board. The problem is, when pitching was outpacing hitting, major league baseball did what it could to minimize great pitching and do what it could to increase runs per game.  

If you go back to 2018, when launch angle was a thing, there were more strikeouts in the league compared to hits. The overall batting average was .248, the lowest since 1972. MLB sprang into action to artificially produce more runs in the sport. 

If you go back and look at the rules it has changed since then. None of them favored pitching. The pitchers were the ones who had to adjust. Fans do like offense, but many can appreciate great pitching too, and some of these moves have hurt the great pitchers of the era. 

This was a good conversation with former Mets starter, Bill Pulsipher 

Yeah, stop teaching chase velocity and spin rate as young players…hire coaches that actually pitched at a high level so the young minor leaguers can learn to pitch instead of just chase velocity and spin rate.

— Bill Pulsipher (@WTP4621) April 9, 2024

More has to be done at the youth level. Arm strength is a big deal. But there’s more than that. Pitchers aren’t made to throw 100 MPH three out of every four pitches. We’ve seen what this kind of heat has done to pitchers. It’s alarming that so many great starters are now out for the season already, and it’s not even May. 

I grant you some of these issues happen before players get to the big leagues, but in the end, pitchers who used to be more deliberate had to change their entire approach to the game when the pitch clock was implemented. Some of the pitchers who complained about it are now out with arm injuries. It’s not a coincidence. Ask Max Scherzer, he talked about it before this season began.

Will the league look for ways to protect the pitchers? No, they never have, and they never will. Sorry, that’s been my experience since I’ve been a teen.  

My recommendations would be to up the pitch clock to 20 seconds when the bases are empty and 25 seconds when runners are on base.  

Let pitchers choose some better substances that are legal to use. The balls are too slick. I see the complaints, and so should the league.  

The last one is, to let pitchers blow on their hands, cold or otherwise. Why do both managers have to agree? That’s stupid. All managers should agree.  

Let’s not ruin pitching in baseball. Please make some changes for their benefit.