Will Former Texas Rangers World Series Winner Inspire New MLB Rule Change?

In the first installment, the strategy of a new DH rule was discussed. In this second edition, we delve into pitching philosophy and how it may affect pitching injuries.

Mar 2, 2025; Dunedin, Florida, USA; Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Max Scherzer (31) throws a pitch against the Philadelphia Phillies in the second inning during spring training at TD Ballpark. / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Max Scherzer is a polarizing figure in Major League Baseball. The former Texas Rangers starter commands attention in the clubhouse and has an intimidating presence, even though he's quite personable when he's not pitching.

There may not be a better competitor in MLB, and when it comes to discussing baseball and pitching, Scherzer is the ideal person to sit down with.

He represents an old school mindset, one that longs for the days when starting pitchers were truly valued. The adage in baseball has always been that momentum is as good as the next day's starting pitcher—unless, of course, it’s a scheduled bullpen game.

The three-time Cy Young winner has come up with his solution to the starting pitcher problem in the MLB. He has termed his idea "the qualified starter."Tom Verducci covered Scherzer's idea for Sports Illustrated with the following explanation:

“If you go six innings, throw 100 pitches or give up four runs,” Scherzer says. “You achieve any one of these three, you become qualified.”

A team is penalized if it pulls its starter before one of those thresholds is reached, says Scherzer, who last year suggested five innings, 90 pitches and three runs as thresholds. He believes new rules are the only fix.

“Once you’re qualified, alright, okay, the DH gets to be in for the rest of the game,” Scherzer says. “If you’re unqualified, [the DH] has got to come out.

“Okay? If that's not enough to make the analysts upstairs keep the starter in the game, let’s talk about maybe there’s a free substitution. That way you can pinch hit or pinch run for somebody if you want to.

“If that’s not enough, okay, let’s go to extra innings. You get the baserunner. If your starter is qualified, you get the baserunner [on second base] in extra innings. If you’re not, you don’t. You know, keep upping the rules.”

“So, it’s going to take rule changes,” Scherzer says. “We’re going to have to legislate this in and/or you're going to have to start fining teams if they’re not getting their starters qualified.”

“Because the league has always wanted more offense,” he says. “How do you get more offense? Just let the starter stay in for the third time. We know it. Do you want more offense? Here you go. Just make the starter stay in. You'll get a more entertaining product. No one wants to see the starter go five innings, no runs, 75 pitches and pulled because the third time through.”

Asked if the players association would get behind a concept like the “qualified starter,” Scherzer says, “They have to. You have to address this injury bug.”

In the first installment of this piece, I focused on the strategy of a new designated hitter rule. The remaining, and possibly more important, issue is the increased number of injuries happening to pitchers at every level of baseball.

Why has Tommy John surgery become the norm? Why are we losing so many stars of Major League Baseball for entire seasons to the same injury? What is causing these injuries? Why now, and why is this a new problem?

Let’s start years ago, during the era of the four-man rotation, when complete games were common, and 200 innings pitched in a season was considered the bar for accomplished starting pitchers.

Looking back to the Baltimore Orioles of 1971, four pitchers won 20 games that season. For example, Jim Palmer threw 282.0 innings, recording 20 complete games and three shutouts. The American League Cy Young Award winner in 2024 was Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers; he threw 192.0 innings.

It is that difference in the philosophy of pitching, and the expectations of what starting pitchers are expecting to accomplish that created the spark that has now turned into a firestorm.

Further changes in the game were highlighted in 1977, when Sparky Lyle won the American League Cy Young Award while pitching in relief for the New York Yankees. Notably, Lyle was not merely a closer (they didn’t technically exist just yet). He was brought into games whenever necessary to finish them. He logged 137.0 innings as a reliever, pitching multiple innings on back-to-back days.

Pitchers who started a game were expected to finish it, a practice that changed in the late 1970s with the emergence of pitchers like Rollie Fingers, Goose Gossage, Tug McGraw, and Lyle. It exploded in the late 1980’s with the Oakland A’s, when manager Tony LaRussa introduced the setup man, Rick Honeycutt, to setup up future Hall-of-Famer Dennis Eckersley.

Over the course of the next 40 years, relief pitching became so specialized that MLB had to change the rule for using relief pitchers. Thus, there is precedent for a rule change if there is an issue that needs to be corrected or minimized.

This data supports the notion that the style of pitching has changed over time. Along with this shift, the ideas about how to care for pitchers have evolved. This combination has contributed to many elbow ligament tears over the past five seasons.

For some historical context, Tommy John surgery, which is an elbow ligament reconstructive surgery, was developed by Frank Jobe in 1974 when pitcher Tommy John underwent what was considered a career-ending procedure.

This change was crucial. When pitchers suffered elbow injuries in the past, their careers were effectively over. For instance, Sandy Koufax’s career was cut short due to injuries, making him more of a shooting star than a long-lasting presence.

When the surgery was successful for John, it became a more common practice. Now, with advancements in modern medicine, it is considered a routine procedure. I underwent Tommy John surgery in 2001, not to return to pitching but to ensure I could play catch with my kids in the future.

Pitchers no longer fear Tommy John surgery as they once did. The operation has become so common and precisely executed that many pitchers return stronger after surgery and rehabilitation than they were before. With less punishment associated with the injury, it has lost its fear factor.

This leads to the significant changes in pitching. Technology itself has played a role. Radar guns, which became popular in the 1980s despite their rudimentary nature, have evolved into sophisticated systems like PitchTrax, which can measure the number of revolutions the ball makes before being caught.

This is one way to guarantee that the offense will not score: do not let them make contact with the ball.

Part of the max pitching or burst pitching philosophy includes whiff rate, which measures the percentage of time a hitter swings and misses at each pitch. Factors like pitch type, velocity, location and spin rate are carefully analyzed.

Today, pitchers do everything possible to strike every hitter out. While pitchers of the past liked strikeouts, they understood that achieving double-digit strikeouts made it difficult to go deep into games due to the excessive number of pitches.

Returning to the first point, it is advantageous to utilize nine different pitchers with varying mechanics and skills, allowing them to max out for an inning. Each hitter would face four different pitchers if they were fortunate enough to get four at-bats.

Moving on, I believe this issue needs to be openly discussed and understood, rather than legislated.

Select baseball has completely overtaken Little League Baseball. For kids in northern states, it is pay-to-play because the only way to get seen is to travel to places where the scouts are, rather than relying on scouts coming to Milwaukee in April to watch a game in 30-degree weather.

This ties back into Tommy John surgery. From the age of eight, kids are tested and evaluated for how hard they throw, often ranked by age in each state. While this can be beneficial, as kids grow older, there is a magic number that they need to reach. Once a pitcher hits 90 mph, college coaches come looking.

The irony is, it does not matter where the pitch is thrown or where it lands, if its clocked at 90 mph, you have broken through. You can’t teach height in basketball, and similarly, you can’t teach a kid to throw 90 mph. You can coach the throwing technique, but that velocity comes from innate ability.

I have witnessed and participated in combines where kids pay hundreds of dollars to be measured, ranked and noticed.

So, what’s the issue?

High school pitchers are maxed out. They throw as hard as they can for as long as possible. They snap their curveballs and sliders for maximum spin rate and may even be throwing splitters before they are fully grown.

I have coached a few kids who are now in college and have blown out their arms in an effort to get noticed.

Clubs like Hitters in Racine, GRB Stiks in Waukesha/Madison, and PTA in Franklin are sending 90% of their kids to college baseball teams.

The pressure from MLB pitchers has trickled all the way down to youth baseball. So, why do we need to fix this problem?

The answer is pretty clear, but I will finalize with one more point.

Gerrit Cole got what he wanted out of his arm. Does he want to get hurt and miss the season? Absolutely not. But he will rehab this year with the best surgeon and the best rehab professionals while making $36 million.

Name a teenage boy growing up and dreaming of pitching in the show someday. Is it worth blowing out your elbow, maybe even twice, to stay on the path to have a chance to keep playing? The answer is yes, every time. Thank you for asking.

Every time, no doubt — it's worth the risk. It’s the only way to make it. 

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