Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman took a swipe at MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred on Tuesday as the baseball boss talked about marketing the sport through starting pitchers.
Gausman implored his followers not to believe what Manfred said about starting pitching.
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“Don’t believe a word this man says,” Gausman wrote on X. “Get ready for 6 innings you get to keep the DH, if not a fan hits in their spot.”
Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman, #34, stands in the dugout after pitching five innings against the Texas Rangers without giving up a hit at Globe Life Field on Sep 19, 2024 in Arlington, Texas. (Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images)
Gausman’s jab came weeks after the possibility of implementing the “golden at-bat” rule, which would allow teams to pick one batter per game to hit even if they are not next in the batting order, was floated into the baseball world.
Manfred spoke as part of the “Questions for Cancer” podcast. He said he did not think a minimum inning requirement for starting pitchers would be a great idea to help with the issue.
“I don’t think a specific inning requirement even with exceptions are workable in our rule,” Manfred. “It’s just too blunt an instrument to fix this problem. I do see both problems as really serious. I think the injury issue – our physicians have studied this carefully. They continue to believe that the focus on velocity and spin rate is a significant cause in the increase in injuries.
“Look, marketing the game, just think about a broadcast. The name and face you see the most is the starting pitcher. The matchups of great starting pitchers have historically been important in terms of marketing the game and I do think we need to get back to that.”
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MLB commissioner Rob Manfred before game four of the 2024 World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on Oct 29, 2024 in New York City. (Brad Penner-Imagn Images)
Manfred said rules should be developed to create incentives for teams that develop pitchers who can go deep into games.
“To me, this needs to be addressed in a more subtle way. I think rules surrounding transactions, that is how often pitchers can come on and off the roster. One of the things that happens today, guy pitches three days in a row, he gets outrighted, they bring somebody else in. They give him some rest as opposed to him staying on the roster the whole time.
“I think we need to create incentives through things like roster rules, transaction rules for clubs to develop pitchers who go deeper in the game. I don’t think it can be prescriptive, you have to go six innings. I think it has to be a series of rules that create an incentive for clubs to develop pitchers of a certain type.”
CBS Sports noted that the inning per start rate sat at 5.2 during the 2024 season – more than an inning lower than it was in 1984.
Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Kevin Gausman, #34, throws against the Atlanta Braves in the first inning at Truist Park on Sep 6, 2024 in Atlanta. (Brett Davis-Imagn Images)
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Gausman started in 31 games in 2024 and led the majors with two complete games and one shutout. He completed at least seven innings of work eight times.
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