Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt Arnold
I definitely feel that the 3-batter minimum is going to be abused in the same way that the 10-day DL is being abused by the Dodgers. How many times will a lefty come in to face Blackmon only to suddenly have a "sore arm" when Story/Arenado are due up?
You can't force them into a DL stay for those. The best you could do would be to charge a team with one of their mound visits, and the league would have to come in hard to prevent any sort of tampering on the rules.
To me, it spoils things too much. Honestly, even just going to staying for 2 batters would effectively get rid of the LOOGY, and prevent a lot of mid-inning changes. Or if you want to prevent mid-inning changes, just go all the way - count any mid-inning pitching change as a "mound visit" under the current rules, and there's your limit. You now have 5 mound visits and/or mid-inning pitching changes per game, and that's it. Teams would have to think very carefully about doing 2 or 3 changes in an inning, but they still can be as strategic as necessary.
|
Yes, the Dodgers were guilty of using the 10 day DL to manipulate their pitching staff, but hardly the only team that did it. And any team was free to use this particular loophole, not like the rule was there only for them to abuse.
