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Major League Baseball has informed clubs they will be allowed to carry 14 pitchers on their rosters until June 19, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports. This is an adjustment from a previous plan to enforce a 13-man limit by May 30.
For those that enjoy old school baseball, extending rosters might be worst case scenario. There are some pros, though.
MLB has informed clubs they will be permitted to carry 14 pitchers until June 19, source tells @TheAthletic. Earlier revised plan had been for 13-man limit to take effect on May 30.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) May 26, 2022
Why would baseball do this?
Right now, preventing injuries has become a major point of emphasis by commissioner Rob Manfred. For the division-leading Yankees alone, relievers Chad Green and Aroldis Chapman have gone down — one to season-ending Tommy John surgery, while the other nurses Achilles tightness.
Overall, this is a move to help organizations get through a 162-game schedule, but there are some flaws with this move:
Major League Baseball began a war against “pace of play,” then proceeded to extend roster sizes promoting bullpen arms? That move is making sense to improve the likelihood of healthy stars come October, however it’s also counterproductive to their ultimate goal. A product they claim needs to speed up. Allowing teams to carry 14 arms is only encouraging “bullpen games” and less of a priority on starters pitching deeper into games.
It’ll be interesting to see how this tweak impacts the game, if it all.
Once again, Rob Man-Child continues to demonstrate why he is the fifth best commissioner in North American professional sports behind Adam Silver (NBA), Roger Goddell (NFL), Gary Bettman (NHL) and Don Garber (MLS). Hell, even the CFL Commissioner (whomever he/she/they is/are) is better than Man-Child at his job.