Starting Monday, the job of being a major league manager will get a little more difficult.
Through Sunday, teams could carry as many pitchers as they wished, and most, like the Red Sox, opted to have 14 pitchers to go with just 12 position players.
The idea had been to implement a limit of 13 pitchers at the start of the year, but then, the lockout resulted in a shortened spring training. Fearing that injuries would pile up after a condensed spring, MLB agreed not to institute the rule at the start of the year, then twice, gave teams an extension. No one wanted to see more pitchers headed to the IL because of early season over-use.
But now, D-Day is here. Effective tomorrow, teams can have no more than 13 pitchers. It may not seem like much of a restriction, especially when, not that long ago, teams somehow made do with 12, or even 11 pitchers. But the game has evolved, and probably not for the better. Starters are asked to deliver five innings, not seven or more.
Even with 13 pitchers, we've seen position players routinely finish out games on the mound. Last week, the Detroit Tigers used three different position players in the same game.
Expect some adjustments as managers deal with having only 13.
"It's funny, (Saturday) we were talking about it with (the FOX announcing crew),'' said Alex Cora, "A.J. Pierzynski was saying, 'Well, back in the day, it was 12 pitchers or even 10 or whatever. I was like, 'Yeah, that was great. But I'm the manager now and I want 14, 15, 16...it doesn't matter. The more the better.' It is what is, and teams are going to have to make adjustments. That's where multi-inning guys come into play. We feel like we've got a few guys who can help us on that end.
"We need guys to step up, too. The starters have done a good job this last month, going deep into games. We need that,. The early hook, now, I think we're going to have to wait. Captain Hook needs to relax a little bit and let them be.''
Slowly but inexorably, the game has devolved in the last decade. Starting pitching has been less important. Bullpens regularly throw as many innings as rotations, if not more. Openers contribute a few innings. Rare is the game in which three or four relievers aren't utilized.
MLB correctly sees this as an issue. Fans dislike the constant parade of near-anonymous relievers trudging in from the bullpen. To partly combat this, MLB introduced the "three batter'' rule, mandating that relievers must face a minimum of three hitters. Managers and pitching coaches screamed that this would surely lead to ruination.
It did not.
Nor, with the ceiling of 13 pitchers. There's something seriously wrong if a manager can't get by with eight relievers. Cora will find a way to survive.
Expect that the starters will be pushed a bit harder. Instead of getting 4.2 or 5 innings from Rich Hill or Michael Wacha. And instead of it being commonplace to ask four different relievers to pitch an inning each, Cora -- and every other MLB manager -- might have to cover those 12 outs with three pitchers instead of four.
Cora said all three of his bullpen lefties -- Austin Davis, Matt Strahm and Jake Diekman -- can provide him with more than one inning, as well as righties Tanner Houck and Ryan Brasier.
"It's interesting,'' said Cora, "because we've played x-amount of games one way, and no we have to do this. We've been preparing for it, but...I do believe they're capable of doing it, but we have to be careful, too. After Thursday, we've got a lot of games in a row (without a day off). I think that's the nature of the tournament, quote, unquote. Everybody's going to lose a pitcher and guys will have to start throwing more than three outs. We'll be ready for that.
"Certain guys are going to have to step up. It's not going to be three hitters, or three outs. They may have to go four or five outs and pass the baton to the next guy.''
The move comes at a time when the Red Sox are far from at full health. Two starters -- Nathan Eovaldi and Garrett Whitlock -- are currenly on the IL, though the expectation is that Whitlock will throw a bullpen before the end of the homestand. Chris Sale will begin his rehab assignment Monday and James Paxton is about 10 days behind him.
Meanwhile, Josh Taylor is close to a rehab assignment of his own. Even without the new limit on pitchers, the Red Sox roster would be in near-constant flux. This will only complicate things.
The other half of the equation is, teams will now add a position player, giving them, for the first time this season, four bench players. The Sox will soon get both Christian Arroyo (COVID) and Kiké Hernández (hip flexor strain), but neither will be ready to be activated Monday.
That means the Sox will likely pick a temporary position player, already on the 40-man roster -- Connor Wong would seem like the best bet.
