Tanner Roark not happy with pitch count
It has been a bizarre season to say the least for Major League Baseball who were forced to make a plethora of adaptions to the 2020 campaign as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The start of the season was pushed back three months, the amount of regular season games played was reduced from 162 to just 60 and the number of clubs who qualify for the playoffs was expanded to eight in each League.
As a result of all the changes and the lack of a true preseason, teams have been forced to alter plans of players to ensure their safety. There has been an abundance of injuries during the shortened season with several teams paying the price. The Toronto Blue Jays have been no exception, losing several key members throughout the campaign to various injuries.
They do not want to take any chances with their starting pitchers either and have instituted a rule that ensures no pitcher goes through the opponents’ lineup more than twice. This is designed to both avoid unnecessary injuries, but also to prevent the opposition from seeing the same pitcher three times while at the plate in any given game.
While the intention certainly seems to be a noble one, not all pitchers are happy about it. On Wednesday, Tanner Roark was pulled from the game against the New York Yankees after just 68 pitches thrown and four innings played. This did not sit well with the veteran.
“I think that’s horse crap,” Roark told reporters when asked about the club limiting starters to two turns through the opposition, via Sportsnet. “Just because the computers are saying something different – I hate it. I’m old school. They signed me here for a reason, to not go three, four innings and throw only a certain amount of pitches. I throw a lot of pitches. I try to go as deep as I can. I don’t know. That’s baseball. It started last year and again this year, keeping that trend going. I disagree with it. Not everybody’s the same. Not everybody throws 98 miles an hour.”
Roark was replaced on the mound by Ross Stripling in the fifth inning with the game tied at 2-2. Stripling allowed three costly runs in the fifth inning and the Blue Jays ultimately lost the game 7-2. Statistics show that it is beneficial to avoid having a pitcher go through the same lineup three times in a game, but Roark does not buy into the strategy during what has been a hectic schedule.
“I think it’s the trend of the way the game is going,” said Roark. “Yes, there are some strategic moves that we do, which I understand. Thank God we have an off-day (Thursday) but during this 28-game span, these guys are normally starters, most of them, not used to day off, pitch, day off, pitch.”
So far, the strategy seems to be working for the club though as they sit in second place in the American League East, two games up on the New York Yankees. They boast a 24-19 record with just 17 games to play and will take on the New York Mets on Friday night in the first game of a three-game series over the weekend.
