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Wednesday, Sep. 16, 2009

Starting pitchers need to be pushed

Bill Shanks

sports@macon.com

Last Tuesday in Houston, Atlanta Braves rookie starting pitcher Tommy Hanson was cruising. He had thrown eight shutout innings without a walk. He had struck out seven. And in the eighth inning, his fastball was clocked at 95 mph.

But despite the impressive performance, the 23-year-old had committed the cardinal sin in baseball. He had thrown 98 pitches, which unfortunately these days is viewed as way too many to continue for even just one more inning.

Hanson obviously believed he could complete his masterful outing. But when manager Bobby Cox walked over to him after the bottom of the eighth inning and extended his hand in congratulations, Hanson looked shocked that his night was over.

Cox turned to closer Rafael Soriano, who promptly blew the 1-0 lead. The Astros won 2-1, and it was Atlanta’s only loss last week.

Many fans believed Cox’s controversial decision officially ended the season for the Braves, who lost a game in the standings that night to both the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East and to the Colorado Rockies in the wild-card race.

But the decision to pull Hanson brings up an even bigger issue. What has happened to the complete game in baseball?

Ironically, the only nine-inning complete game by a Braves starting pitcher this season was Sunday, when Javier Vazquez won his 13th game of the season in St. Louis.

When you look at the past 50 years in baseball, teams have gone from averaging a little more than one complete game per week to less than one a month. The complete game is just not a big deal anymore.

The specialization of pitching is part of the reason for this change. We now have closers, left-handed specialists, eighth-inning relievers, seventh-inning relievers, long relievers and on and on. Each reliever is now practically labeled with a specific duty.

Organizations and managers have gotten so careful, really too careful, in handling pitchers. Couldn’t Cox have at least allowed Hanson to start the ninth inning? If Hanson allowed a baserunner, then pull him out for Soriano. But to not give him at least a chance to finish the game was a mistake. Hanson looked even stronger in the eighth inning than he had earlier in the game, but he was too close to that magic number of 100 pitches.

Cox contended there was no reason to push the rookie pitcher, that he has already surpassed his career high of innings pitched in pro ball with 167 between Triple-A and the majors.

But one more inning? Wouldn’t it have been more beneficial for Hanson’s confidence to go out and finish his masterpiece that he started than to be saved?

And what exactly are they saving these pitchers from anyway? They’re still getting hurt all the time. Now that they are being coddled so much, pitchers are adjusting to where they can only throw up to 100 pitches.

I interviewed Hall of Fame pitcher Warren Spahn a few years before he died in 2003. Spahn had complete games in 57 percent of his 665 career starts between 1942 and 1965. I asked him what he thought of today’s starting pitcher.

“It’s a joke,” Spahn growled. “Pitchers these days are wimps.”

And then he rolled off a tongue-lashing about pitchers that I can’t repeat in a family newspaper.

Spahn was right. It is a joke. It’s not like saving starting pitchers has kept them from getting hurt. We’re still seeing pitchers going down with shoulder or elbow injuries almost every week. Teams are being so careful with pitchers in the minor leagues that when they get up to the majors the thought of throwing a complete game is almost scary.

When they are programmed to go only six or seven innings, going over 100 pitches is probably a bit intimidating. And that is just a shame.

Hanson is a workhorse, and I’m sure he would have rested up after the season to compensate for his extra inning — if he had been given the chance.

That game against Houston was not broke, but Cox tried to fix it anyway by pulling Hanson. And unfortunately, the only thing that is broke is the modern-day role of a starting pitcher.

Talk Braves Baseball with Bill from 3-6 p.m. today on The Bill Shanks Show on Fox Sports 1670 AM and online at www.foxsports1670.com