Snyder's Soapbox: Down with the bullpen game! Pros and cons of a six-inning minimum for starting pitchers

A rumored innings rule could force pitchers to slog through a bad start -- and force fans to sit through it

By Matt Snyder Aug 20, 2024 at 11:24 am ET• 4 min read

Welcome to Snyder's Soapbox! Here, I pontificate about matters related to Major League Baseball on a weekly basis. Some of the topics will be pressing matters, some might seem insignificant in the grand scheme of things, and most will be somewhere in between. The good thing about this website is that it's free, and you are allowed to click away. If you stay, you'll get smarter, though. That's a money-back guarantee. Let's get to it.

Phillies starting pitcher Cristopher Sánchez left the dugout Saturday night and headed to the mound for the ninth inning to a rousing ovation in Citizens Bank Park. Watching at home, even though I'm not a Phillies fan, I was pretty pleased. Just one outing after having allowed seven runs on 12 hits in 4 2/3 innings, Sánchez was going for the complete game. It wasn't a no-hitter or even a shutout -- he had allowed a solo homer earlier -- but it was a starting pitcher going out to finish the job on his own. He did finish it, becoming just the third pitcher this season to throw multiple complete games. He's tied for the MLB lead with two. 

Because I can't stay out of my own way -- hey, I've never suggested I'm immune to my own Soapbox-like criticism -- I went to glance at the social media reaction. I shouldn't have, but I couldn't help it, because I knew some nonsense would be out there. After all, a report broke just two days earlier that Major League Baseball was toying with requiring starting pitchers to finish six innings every start (with a bevy of exceptions). 

Sure enough, I saw what I expected to see. There were some people proclaiming this is a good illustration at why the proposed six-inning minimum for starting pitchers is such a good idea.