100 innings

We have seen fewer pitchers throw 200+ innings in a single season gradually. Each team has very different ways to use pitchers in today’s baseball games. However, a team needs pitchers to eat innings. It doesn’t change. If a starting pitcher can make 20+ starts in a single season, he should be able to toss at least 100 innings. Nonetheless, for some teams, it might be hard to see their pitchers throw 100+ innings.

The Angels won 77 games and lost 85 times in 2021. They haven’t played in the postseason since 2014. This season, the Angels pitching staff posted a 4.69 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. No pitchers from the Angels earned 10 wins this season. Shohei Ohtani, who might be the best two-way player in modern baseball, tossed 130.1 innings and earned 9 wins. Ohtani was the only pitcher in the Angels to throw at least 100 innings this year. How to improve rotation will be necessary for the Angels this off-season. In addition, the Mets also won 77 games this season and had only two pitchers to throw at least 100 innings this season. Jacob deGrom was dominant before being placed on the IL. He made 15 starts and tossed 92 innings with a 1.08 ERA and a 0.55 WHIP. So, who are those two pitchers to throw at least 100 innings for the Mets this season? Marcus Stroman made 33 starts and threw 179 innings. The other is Taijuan Walker, who made 29 starts and 1 relief appearance. He tossed 159 innings. Moreover, the Cardinals had only two pitchers to throw 100+ innings as well. Adam Wainwright, who turned 40 in August, had a great season. He tossed 206.1 innings with a 3.05 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP. Furthermore, Kwang Hyun Kim ate 106.2 innings for the Cardinals this season. Meanwhile, 4 teams each had 3 pitchers to toss 100+ innings. At the same time, 12 teams each had 4 pitchers to throw at least 100 innings this year and 8 teams each got 5 pitchers who threw 100+ innings in 2021. Moreover, the Rockies and the Rangers each had 6 pitchers to throw more than 100 innings this season. These two teams made things quite interesting. We know that Coors Field is a hitter friendly ballpark. It’s not easy for MLB pitchers to pitch there. Among 6 Rockies pitchers who threw 100+ innings, they each posted an ERA over 4. Furthermore, the Rangers had 5 pitchers to throw more than 100 innings with an over 4 ERA. The only exception is Kyle Gibson, who made 19 starts and tossed 113 innings for the Rangers. Gibson owned a 2.87 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP, however, his ERA was over 5 after being traded to the Phillies. Although the Astros lost in the World Series, they still had a pretty good season. They had good pitching depth and had 7 pitchers to throw at least 100 innings this season. Additionally, 5 of these pitchers each posted an under 4 ERA. Each team might have different strategies on pitcher usage. Normally, most MLB teams should have 4 or 5 pitchers who can throw at least 100 innings in a single season. However, if a team doesn’t have enough pitchers to eat innings or a team can only rely on pitchers who own an over 4 ERA to eat innings, there shall be some problems.