I kind of hate them cuz it takes all forms of a cg out, but strategically I think everyone will start using them

I don't like how starting pitchers are coddled so much.

If you can afford the bench space for all those pitchers then why notits a good strat if you can swap pitchers every time they get through the order so the hitters dont see the same dude twice.

The league likes that sweet spot of 4.5 runs per team per game and we are sliding to 4.3 right now so if it keeps sliding then the league may make more changes for pitchers.

This is almost a side effect of forcing relievers to pitch at least 3 hitters. Think of a further extreme, if each pitcher was forced to pitch 9 hitters, then we are getting closer and closer to 3 innings each forced communist pitching, which is imo the core strategy for using an opener.

Balls in play per game went from 54 per game a year ago now down to 49 so that is a significant amount of less baseball happening due to the better pitching meta.

SO per team per game are over 8 now and its trending up.. not many years ago it was 6. thats 4 more s/os per game which is more than an entire inning of only pitching extra per game.

How does the league deal with this? Hard to measure. I dont feel so much of the pitching duels as the stats suggest but that is also because of the pitch clock the game moves faster anyway.

All I know is Jays are riding and dying by the opener strat right now because we only have 3 starting pitchers lol

https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/majors/bat.shtml

This post was edited by Crunkt on Jun 12 2025 11:05pm

alot to unpack in 1 post. cubs are missing 2 top starters right now so they are using opener fairly often.
I have watched a number of pitching duels but even in those the managers come and take the guy out at the first sign of trouble. then the reliever always gives up those runs and no pitching duel ever happened.
the feel for the game is being taken away in favor of analytics. cant let pitchers get in trouble third time through the order with 75 pitches
some of that strikeout stat is on the hitters. these guys are home run or bust, their obp would get them sent to the minors

I don't see anything wrong with it. It provides teams with more options. Sometimes it's an absolute necessity with Injuries. Also gives long inning guys more of a role. Have 2 guys who can throw 3 innings is pretty useful guy now. Before he'd only be in for mop up duty.

Overall don't think it's the best way to go but it's not terrible by any means if deployed correctly. Just find it weird when teams use like 1 Inning openers and then by the 5th they've got like 3 guys in already.

This post was edited by Vtrix on Jun 13 2025 03:34pm

Vtrix made an excellent point. I don't mind the strategy involved. I understand why it works for some teams. Not every team has enough pitching depth.

But I personally don't like openers because I typically enjoy the First Five Run Line (F5 RL) betting on baseball. And openers make it really difficult to get a good feel for what may happen. Even though a five inning run line bet is basically a coin flip most of the time. But like today's Astros vs. Twins game for example. You had two stud starting pitchers on the mound. Hunter Brown for the Astros and Joe Ryan for the Twins. That's the type of starting pitching matchup I jump out of bed in the morning and feel excited about.

And with the Astros missing two big bats in Yordan Alvarez and Isaac Paredes I knew it was going to be a difficult matchup. I wasn't going to bet on it because the Twins were getting the +0.5 run on their side. But around 10 minutes before the first pitch I noticed it had changed to the Astros getting the +0.5 run on their side. At -155. So naturally I put a small bet on it because it was too good to pass up. And sure enough it was a 2-2 ballgame after 5 innings. So the Astros F5 RL was a winner. That last minute line change made the difference.

Hunter Brown pitched 7 innings. 12 strikeouts. Only 3 hits allowed. Sensational performance yet again. He's having a Cy Young season.
Only blemish. A pop fly 2-run homer in the top of the 5th. Crawford Boxes in left field. A home run in only one MLB ballpark. Houston.

I prefer having a ballgame featuring two starting pitchers. Don't necessarily have to be all-stars or aces. With openers I have a harder time evaluating.

And Cam Smith walked it off for a 3-2 Astros win in the bottom of the 9th! A rookie beast.
If the Cubs are unable to re-sign Kyle Tucker that has a chance to be a bad trade for them.

Only down side is Hunter Brown didn't pick up a much deserved win. To help his Cy Young award chances.
Going to need 20 wins (sub-2 ERA) to have a chance. Max Fried and Tarik Skubal will be tough to beat out.

Losing Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker. And essentially no Yordan until August. No Javier or Blanco either.
This was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Astros. But nobody else wants to win the AL West.

why did orioles use Blewett as an opener? so he cant lose the game in the 9th?

I didn't read a single post in this thread

Pretty sure the only reading you experience is tts