Agent Scott Boras Wants to See MLB Rosters Expanded Because of Pitch Clock Injury Concerns

Boras told the "Baseball Isn't Boring" podcast with Rob Bradford that he wants to see rosters expanded so teams can carry more pitchers in the wake of pitchers fatiguing because of the pitch clock.

As we hit the 50-game mark of the major league season, I think most people would agree that the pitch clock has generally been good for baseball.

It's allowed for game times to come down into the two-hour plus range, has increased action and has cut out a lot of dead time. I watched two games this week that finished in fewer than two hours and five minutes. It was a total joy to watch a game played with that crispness.

That said, not everyone loves the pitch clock. Pitchers lately have spoken out about the pitch clock impacting the ability to stay healthy as they fatigue quicker.

And they have a champion in the form of super agent Scott Boras, who told the "Baseball Isn't Boring" podcast that he wants to see rosters expanded to help pitchers.

“We need 27-, 28-man rosters because we’ve got to protect the starting pitchers. Pitch clock is gassing a lot of these guys, it’s very difficult now to get through five innings,” Boras said. “I think we’ve definitely got to extend the number of pitchers we have on the Major League teams. We’re going to see a whole host of guys with 65, 75 appearances out of the bullpen, we’ve got to cut that back.

“We need to have that 14-man pitching staff, maybe 15, that would allow for clubs to … keep your starters’ innings down, and also have a bullpen where you keep your number of appearances by your bullpen down.”

Scott Boras thinks MLB needs to expand rosters, citing pitch clock #RedSox https://t.co/pussAO9bZf pic.twitter.com/3rk8aelWZ8

— WEEI (@WEEI) May 26, 2023

There's a lot going on here so lets just look at a few things critically:

1) I'm sure there's some truth to the concerns that Boras' raises. I'm sure some pitchers have gotten hurt as a result of increased velocity in such a short time, or because they end up fatigued and break down. That said, after a year of doing this, pitchers likely will change their training regiments and be more likely to be able to handle it next year and beyond.

2) Also, these rules have been in place in the minor leagues for years already, so there are more and more pitchers coming up that know how to handle the pitch clock and are properly trained for it. As more of those guys get into the major league ranks, they will become the majority.

3) Boras has a vested interest in expanded rosters. As the article above notes, if there are more big league players, he gets more money as a result of those players making more money. It doesn't make him wrong, but it means you should look at where his comments come from.

This will likely be a topic of discussion on the next 'Payoff Pitch' podcast with Brady Farkas, which comes out next Wednesday by 6 a.m.

Follow Fastball on FanNation in social media

Continue to follow our Fastball on FanNation coverage on social media by LIKING us on Facebook and by following us on Twitter @FastballFN.

You can also subscribe to "The Payoff Pitch" podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.