Pitch Count Obsession Wins Again

Dodgers 7

Twins 0

My 1st Twins game of 2022 was certainly one of the coldest baseball games I have ever been to. Temps dipping into the 30s, with a biting wind. 

The only thing colder was the Twins feeble bats, as future HOFer Clayton Kershaw was dominating. In fact he was so dominant that he went into the middle innings with a perfect game. 

The game itself was never a contest. Chris Paddack's 1st Twins start was immediately ugly, and after a first full of bad pitches and errors it was 2-0 LA. They later tacked on another run, and then later on hit back-to-back-to-back homeruns off the bullpen. So the game was over. 

All eyes on Kershaw. Most of this incredibly small crowd was wearing Dodger blue, so even though they were the road team, with every out closer Kershaw got the crowd roared. 

I was fully rooting for Kershaw to do it. Fuck it. I'd seen a couple of one hitters in person, but never a no hitter, and certainly not a perfect game.

But the pitch count Nazis won again.

Now, yes, Kershaw had an injury last year, and league wide starters are throwing even fewer pitches than usual at the start of the season. And this is a lost war. Teams are never going to budge off their belief that limiting pitch counts says pitchers arms, despite there being zero actual evidence of this. Pitchers are babied more than ever. Every year it gets worse. Yet pitchers get hurt just as much as they ever have. 

This collective insanity hurts baseball. It takes away chances to see something special. And it cost me and everyone else today. 

The Dodgers fans booed the hell out of the poor sap who trotted in from the bullpen to relieve Kershaw before the 8th. 

The perfect game and no hitter were of course still alive, but as one might expect that didn't last long. Gary Sanchez dumped a single into the outfield and it was over. It stood as the Twins only hit of the day, so this does make 3 in-person one hitters for me, and is the first time I have ever seen the Twins limited to 1. 

But it could have been history. And a stupid adherence to a stupid belief prevented it. Maybe Kershaw doesn't get 6 more outs, but he deserved the shot. And yanking him does nothing to prevent an injury. Nothing. Injuries can happen due to a thousand reasons, but again this is a lost war. Baseball is never going back to the old days when starters could pitch 8 or 9 innings routinely. I doubt that in another 10 or 20 years we even have starting pitchers. Everyone will just be an opener. Go pitch 3 innings. 

And pitchers will still get hurt then too. Cause that's life.