Major League Baseball Pitchers Need to Pitch
Major League Baseball Pitchers Need to Pitch
An IBWAA writer questions removing Gerrit Cole in the first game of the World Series
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Pregame Pepper
Did you know…
. . . Thus far in the 2024 playoffs, the Yankees have received 53 1/3 innings from starters out of 100 1/3 total innings pitched by the team. That works out to roughly 53.2% of innings thrown by starters.
Last season’s World Series champion, the Texas Rangers, played in four rounds of the playoffs, pitching 155 innings as a team. Starters pitched 84 1/3 innings for the Rangers last fall, constituting 54.4% of all innings thrown, roughly in line with the 2024 Yankees.
For another perspective, the 2009 New York Yankees team that won the World Series saw starters throw 94 1/3 innings during the playoffs out of 140 2/3 overall innings pitched that postseason. That works out to 67.1% of all innings coming from starting pitchers.
Roughly 50 years ago, the 1978 Yankees won the second of back-to-back World Series titles. With two aces and not a lot beyond those two, the Yankees ended up having starters throw 49 of 88 total innings for Bronx pitchers, for a ratio of 55.7% of innings - fairly close to the 2024 ratio.
Leading Off
Pitchers Need to Pitch
By Ray Kuhn
Why bother?
Gerrit Cole is an ace. The New York Yankees are paying him as such and the right-hander certainly pitches like one. So, let’s treat Cole like the ace he is.
The World Series is the end of the line. You have up to seven chances to win four games and there is no tomorrow. The time is now, and the pressure is on. This isn’t the middle of July when you are looking at the big picture. At this point, you have to play to win the game.
There are no simply no excuses.
After a delayed start to the season due to injury, Cole had yet another excellent season in 2024. Over 95 innings, Cole had a 3.41 ERA while striking out more than a batter an inning. While we have seen two straight seasons of velocity decline (97.8 to 96.8 to 95.9), Cole still gets outs and generates results.
As the Yankees had four days off between the ALCS and World Series, it only makes sense that Cole would be starting Game 1 of the World Series. And that is how it should be. That is why the Yankees are paying him all that money and he is classified as one of the true aces in today’s game.
Entering the World Series, the Yankees were underdogs depending on who you talked to and how you evaluated things. The difference was slight though. New York has every right to be here, but the onus is on the Yankees to make things happen. The best way to do that is to take away home-field advantage.
Thanks to Cole’s masterful pitching through six innings in Game 1, the Yankees were on their way toward making that happen. They were up 2-1 in the bottom of the seventh inning, and Cole had a reasonable pitch count. And then, a leadoff single to Teoscar Hernandez changed everything. Cole was at 88 pitches and Aaron Boone panicked.
In a move that was unheard of, or not even thought of, in previous generations, Cole was lifted from the game. What happened to riding with your ace? You have to trust your best players in key positions as this is why they have the contracts and stature they do. Instead, we got to see former closer Clay Holmes.
This is nothing against Holmes as the right-hander got out of the inning with the lead intact. The problem though, is that it pushed the Yankees bullpen forward unnecessarily. Holmes didn’t return and then Tommy Kanhle and Luke Weaver combined to allow the Dodgers to tie the game.
New York failed to get length out of any of their key relievers so they were forced to go to Jake Cousins in the tenth inning. That didn’t go according to plan and in came Nestor Cortes with the game on the line. A Freddie Freeman grand slam later, and the Yankees were on the losing end of Game 1.
Cortes hadn’t pitched in 37 days and likely isn’t fully healthy. The fact that the Yankees were forced to turn to the left-hander in such a critical situation is inexcusable. We can debate which reliever they should have turned to, but that’s ignoring the bigger issue.
New York’s bullpen was pushed forward leading to less than optimal options in the 10th inning. What is the point of having an ace if you aren’t going to rely on them?
The lack of reliance on their ace speaks to the current state of the game. Once the action reaches the fifth inning, pitchers are not given the ability to work their way out of trouble. So much for pitching deep into games; they are now lucky if they can reach the middle innings. Then when given a chance to do so, they are simply unable to due to lack of training or practice.
We have seen a trend that is less than ideal engulf the game over the past few years. If there is a problem or a perceived problem, the game just tries to come up with a rule to regulate it and influence behavior. While that is something I have not been a fan of - and it is a source of frustration - maybe now it’s time to join that train.
Aside from injury or true poor performance, there is no reason why a starting pitcher shouldn’t pitch six innings. If we have to get there via a rule, so be it, because that is the culture of the game Rob Manfred has created.
Either way, rely on your ace. Taking Cole out because he allowed a single in the seventh inning is not the answer.
Ray Kuhn covers fantasy sports on Fantrax after previously covering the Houston Astros as part of the FanSided network at Climbing Tal’s Hill. Reach him on X/Twitter at @ray_kuhn_28 or raykuhn57@gmail.com as he is always interested in talking or writing about our great game.
Extra Innings
The quality start that Gerrit Cole had in Game 1 of the World Series was the third of the Yankees’ in the 2024 postseason.
In the ALDS, Cole dominated in the deciding fourth game, going seven innings, allowing six hits and a run while striking out four. In the ALCS, Carlos Rodon went six innings, allowing one run on three hits, striking out nine.