I'm not the baseball fan I once was, but is there actual data to support the restrictions that are being placed on pitchers? It appears pitchers' arms are falling off more than ever. Some players' arms have fallen off multiple times. The pitchers aren't stronger at the end of the season and their careers aren't being extended. It appears that we're just regurgitating unproven talking points.

I'm not the baseball fan I once was, but is there actual data to support the restrictions that are being placed on pitchers? It appears pitchers' arms are falling off more than ever. Some players' arms have fallen off multiple times. The pitchers aren't stronger at the end of the season and their careers aren't being extended. It appears that we're just regurgitating unproven talking points.

Spin rate is top of the list. Pitchers didn't use to squeeze the sawdust out of the ball. Didn't have to because the seams were higher. I mean, we all know the story of the baseball. There's unintended consequences for inventing the HR ball.

I think it has more to do with arms NEVER getting any extended rest. The disappearance of the three sport athlete. Today's pitchers pitch year round. Warren Spahn put down his baseball glove in September and then played football and basketball until the following April. His arm was fully recovered and ready to throw as many pitches as needed the next season.

Spin rate is top of the list. Pitchers didn't use to squeeze the sawdust out of the ball. Didn't have to because the seams were higher. I mean, we all know the story of the baseball. There's unintended consequences for inventing the HR ball.

You had a better pitch mix, more command of your pitches, pitched to contact, etc.

I think one of the hidden changes to the game is stadium configuration.

I think it has more to do with arms NEVER getting any extended rest. The disappearance of the three sport athlete. Today's pitchers pitch year round. Warren Spahn put down his baseball glove in September and then played football and basketball until the following April. His arm was fully recovered and ready to throw as many pitches as needed the next season.

I believe it was Spiegal I heard reference a report from a research doctor who concluded that throwing anything over 88 is unsustainable for arm ligaments. So, if the injury is inevitable, you spread out the risk over a larger time period.

So there's no data to support the lower pitch count talking points?

Human evolution has allowed guys to throw 100 MPH with regularity,

I think it has more to do with arms NEVER getting any extended rest. The disappearance of the three sport athlete. Today's pitchers pitch year round. Warren Spahn put down his baseball glove in September and then played football and basketball until the following April. His arm was fully recovered and ready to throw as many pitches as needed the next season.

Therefore, I don't think the statistical branch of MLB really cares.

Velocity is the answer. This many guys throwing this hard is just making them more inclined to injuries

Bob Feller threw 99-100 way back the in the day. He just didn't do so on every pitch and, as JOrr said, he didn't pitch from mid October until Spring Training.

Obviously not. It's just next man who can throw 100 mph for three innings up. It's up to the pitchers and their parents in the developmental years to change how this is done. These guys are disposable as far as MLB teams are concerned. Probably even as most high school or travel coaches are concerned.

Now, 8 out of 10 guys are throwing that hard.

Now, 8 out of 10 guys are throwing that hard.

However, guys will get shut down in the name of saving arms,

There's definitely data supporting the removal of the starter before he faces the lineup a third time, i.e. a significantly higher BAA. However, that's for ALL pitchers. I'd look at it as, "Do I have a guy in the bullpen that's going to be better than this starter who is dominating right now?"

Removing the starter by rote prior to the third time around is the kind of push button managing "by the book" that is less likely to get a guy fired if and when things go bad.

While there are certainly more guys throwing very hard these days, I have my doubts that any of them is throwing harder than Walter Johnson, Bob Feller, or Nolan Ryan regardless of what a modern radar gun might suggest or what they may put up on a stadium scoreboard to pump up the crowd.

105!!!!!!!!!!!!

The fascination with the walk on the batter's side and the strikeout on the pitcher's side has radically altered the way the game is played and frankly, made for a very boring game that now requires all manner of rule changes to "fix."

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Even the best pitchers have a third time through the order penalty. The problem is that nobody discusses magnitude. If Corbin Burnes gives up an OPS+ of 92 his third time through the order and you bring in an reliever who might lower that to 86+, what have you really gained? Probably nothing over the course of Burns 33 starts. We might be talking 2-5 runs at most over those 33 starts, and it wouldn't likely result in fewer wins, maybe one if we are being generous.

Sure there is a third time through the order penalty, but nobody discusses magnitude.