Fast Working Pitchers
Why don't we study this?
Fast Working Pitchers
I was looking through this summary of the 1977 Bill James Baseball Abstract again when I came across this interesting section:
Is there a reason why we don’t study this sort of thing?
I’ve looked at numerous websites, and yet I haven’t found any stat resembling an average time of game for pitchers, a pace rating, or anything like that. It’s really odd, too, especially when you consider that the pitcher is literally the guy who controls how fast or slow the game moves.
It’s kind of irrelevant today, since there are rules that require pitchers to work at a certain pace (though, technically, those rules existed before the pitch clock was invented; they just weren’t enforced). However, it would be an interesting thing to study, in my opinion.
I love listening to old baseball radio broadcasts. There are a number of 1974 Pittsburgh Pirates games out there that are really worth listening to. Bob Gibson starts for the Cardinals against the Pirates in one of them, and Bob Prince notes that Gibson wouldn’t take his full allotment of warm up pitches between innings. Gibson preferred to get right to work, and would work so quickly that the radio station couldn’t get back in time from the commercial break.
You don’t see that sort of thing anymore, of course. But is there a reason why we haven’t tried to quantify it?
Common sense suggests defenses are more alert and efficient behind pitchers who work fast and throw strikes; however, I'm unaware of any studies validating that. Apparently, professional managers and pitching coaches were unaware of that; otherwise, there would have been no need for the rule change last year, limiting time between pitches.