MLBPA's Tony Clark says MLB teams are 'blowing out' pitchers amid rising injury numbers | News, results, highlights, statistics and rumors

Tony Clark, executive director of the MLB Players Association, expressed concern Friday about how MLB teams use pitchers.

According to ESPN's Jesse Rogers, Clark spoke to reporters before Game 1 of the 2024 World Series between the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers and said the following about teams' philosophies when using pitchers:

“The conversations we have had with our players have shown that the decision-makers on a given team will continue to make the decisions they have made unless or until you draw a line in the sand and force change.” Do, that is , that the pitchers – starters and relievers – must give maximum effort for the period of time in which they can have them. Once they run out of gas, as the data suggests, recycle them and burn out another jug.

Pitching has evolved significantly in the Major League over the years, as there is now less emphasis on starters going deep into the game and more on specialization through the use of multiple relievers, almost all of whom hit the ball at great speed throw .

Clark addressed the strategic changes, not only expressing his belief that teams are “blowing out” their pitchers, but also suggesting that they won't get away with it until they are essentially forced to:

“Developing starting pitching and achieving strong starting pitching — that was the value proposition for 150 years in the past — has changed. Until the decision-makers realize that pitchers are being sidelined day in and day out based on their ability to perform. “Using them or what they ask of them is no longer the best way to treat their players, we will see no change .”

Clark also said that players “do what they're told,” which differs significantly from what they were told “for the first 150 years of the league's existence,” with an emphasis on starting players going at least six innings and Quality logging begins.

Per Ronald Blum from the Chicago TribuneAll MLB pitchers combined have played just 26 complete games this season, which was the lowest single-season total in MLB history.

However, MLB batters only averaged .243 overall, which was among the five lowest single-season batting averages since 1900.

This suggests that using multiple pitchers and giving them maximum effort helps keep opposing hitters at bay, but it's not necessarily good for the pitchers' health.

Rogers said injuries to pitchers continue to increase, as does the need for Tommy John surgery, a procedure that requires about a year of recovery time.

Rogers also pointed out that MLB has discussed “incentive ways” to get teams to change their pitching usage, but it's unclear what can be done to truly influence clubs.

Imposing hard-and-fast rules on pitch counts or the frequency with which pitchers can be used could potentially curb injuries to some extent, although it's fair to question whether MLB would want to micromanage teams to that extent.