The best thing about spring training is the optimism. There is renewal in the air. The hope of success for your team. The dream of tomorrow.
That is, until the vampires of baseball sink their fangs into the game you used to love.
It happens in the most insidious of ways. The general managers of today tear down the game in every way possible by limiting expectations and results of their players, especially pitchers.
Eventually, that negative mindset combined with a lack of “learn as you go’’ teaching and coaching leaks down to performance.
The perfect example of a self-fulfilling prophecy is the state of starting pitching today as teams gather for the start of 2021 Spring Training in the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues, yes my favorite time of year.
Innings have been curtailed from the time pitchers enter an organization these days, yet injuries continue to rise. Funny how that is a reality no one really addresses.
Owners I’m talking to you, you’ve fallen for a bunch of garbage.
Instead of renewal this spring, in a spring where we desperately need renewal, the thoughts and concerns of these GMs who created this mess are repeated time and again.
I call it The Great Workload Woe. It’s everywhere.
Team presidents, GMs, and their pitching gurus all howl: “How in the world are we going to manage the increased innings workload of pitchers coming off a 60-game season?’’
I think it’s more like the Great BS Load.
Again, it’s everywhere. You can’t read a team preview without this being given spotlight attention by media. The great reality is that by limiting innings throughout the pitcher’s formative years in the minors and majors, the people in charge have created their own problems, starting pitchers who don’t pitch like starting pitchers anymore.
Pitch limits have not proven to save pitcher’s arms. I maintain it has done just the opposite. It has created generations of pitchers who have the lost the ability to push themselves to heights unknown because of the easy out given to them by management.
In the minors they no longer learn how to pitch through difficulty, it’s just about getting their work in. Pathetic. And it is not that much work.
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2 comments:
Another great Kernan article. A must-read.
I agree. Good stuff that needs to be said. Unfortunately, nothing will change.
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