Alexander: A six-inning minimum for starting pitchers? Why not?
The world according to Jim:
• There seems to be a movement to make MLB’s next rule change a requirement that starting pitchers go six innings. No exceptions unless, say, said pitcher’s arm falls off or his team trails 10-0 after four innings, or he’s about to throw his 100th pitch in the fifth. Or something.
The idea does make sense because it might change the way organizations train and develop starting pitchers. Maybe teams and pitchers will get the message that more velo, more spin, more stress on the arm more often isn’t necessarily the way to go.
I would imagine any organization that has two-thirds or more of its projected starting rotation on the injured list – lookin’ at you, Dodgers – might deduce that training its pitchers to throttle back, pitch to contact and aim for durability rather than radar gun numbers might be worth a try. …
• If this rule ever comes into play – and right now it’s just an idea being batted around, nothing more – I say it should be christened the John Lowe Rule.
As noted in This Space a couple of years ago, the Hall of Fame scribe (and, at last report, still a daily Press-Telegram reader) invented the “quality start” statistic in 1985 – six or more innings worked, three or less runs allowed. Yes, he allowed back at the beginning, that would translate to a 4.50 ERA over a season – but what manager wouldn’t be happy with that production on a given night? …
• If that was true then, it’s triply true now. Quality starts are now an official statistic on the MLB.com website. The major-league leader as of Friday morning: Seattle’s Logan Gilbert with 21. (For the record, Tyler Glasnow has 14, Jack Flaherty 13 and Gavin Stone 10 among Dodgers’ starters. Tyler Anderson is the only Angel in double digits with 12.) …
• Maybe the quality start is this generation’s version of the complete game. Of the latter category, Max Fried, Kevin Gausman and Cristopher Sánchez shared the major-league lead with two apiece going into Friday’s games. Nineteen pitchers have had one – including the aforementioned Stone, who made his a complete-game shutout, one of 15 this season. (But does it really count if it’s against the White Sox?) …
• Justin Turner is back in SoCal with the Seattle Mariners to face the Angels this weekend, but it’s worth using one last quote from his return to Dodger Stadium two Mondays ago:
“For nine years, living here in the offseason, no matter where you go in L.A. you see Dodger Blue, no matter what time of year,” he said. “In December, driving down Beverly, you see a Fernando Valenzuela jersey. You see a Sandy Koufax jersey. You see the Dodger hats. … I think Tommy (Lasorda) said it best: Dodger Blue was running through the veins of every single fan in the city.” …
• Before you ask: No, the Dodgers’ Funfetti uniforms have not grown on me. Still don’t like ’em. …
• The NFL’s new kickoff rule is going to take some getting used to, and I wonder if maybe the complication factor outweighs any actual gains from kickoff returns. (And if you’re wondering, onside kicks are still allowed – but only in the fourth quarter by a team that’s losing, and it has to “declare” its intention. So much for surprises.) …
• I might get shouted down here, but why not eliminate kickoffs altogether and just put the ball on the 25-yard line to start a possession? And instead of “declaring” an onside kick in those desperate late-game situations, give the trailing team one play from their 35-yard line. If they can get a first down on that play, they keep the ball with a fresh set of downs. That would heighten the suspense. …
• Meanwhile, some college football fans – presumably those convinced the college game is superior to the pro game (even if the talent isn’t) – are grousing over the decision to institute the two-minute warning toward the end of the second and fourth quarters, just like the NFL.
If you’re sitting through those ad breaks in the stadium I can empathize, because that dead time is a killer. But as The Athletic’s Chris Vannini pointed out, they aren’t extra TV timeouts. They’re just shifted from earlier in the half to that two-minute spot. …
• Seriously, though, can that be any worse than the NFL practice of touchdown, extra point, commercial break, kickoff, commercial break? …
• News item: Steph Curry agrees to a one-year, $62.6 million contract extension with the Warriors.
Comment: Shouldn’t USA Basketball chip in to help defray the cost? Consider it the price of gold. …
• NBA training camps we’d like to see: How about if Gregg Popovich brought his San Antonio Spurs to Pomona Pitzer College for a week? Pop coached eight seasons at the Division III institution, from 1979-80 to ’86-87, and went from a 2-22 record his first season with the Sagehens (including a loss to Caltech that snapped a 99-game losing streak) to a conference title in ’86 and a brief stop (a 30-point loss to Nebraska Wesleyan) in the NCAA Tournament.
And yes, I interviewed him following a victory way back when. Trust me, the sarcastic bent – for both of us – came later. …
• If you missed it, the Jay Littleton Ball Park in Ontario, where baseball scenes for a number of movies – including the classic “A League Of Their Own” – were shot, lost its 1930s-vintage covered grandstand to a fire last weekend.
Who says there’s no crying in baseball?
jalexander@scng.com