Editing Starting pitcher (section)

{{Short description|Baseball or softball pitcher who throws the first pitch for their team in a game}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2022}}

[[Image:20070616 Chris Young visits Wrigley (4)-edit3.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Chris Young (pitcher)|Chris Young]] warms up in the [[bullpen]] before a game at [[Wrigley Field]] minutes before the 12:05 start (see scoreboard clock).]]

In [[baseball]]  (hardball or [[softball]]), a '''starting pitcher''' or '''starter''' is the first [[pitcher]] in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a [[games started|game started]] if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first [[Batting (baseball)|batter]] of a game. Starting pitchers are expected to pitch for a significant portion of the game, although their ability to do this depends on many factors, including effectiveness, stamina, health, and strategy.

A starting pitcher in professional baseball usually rests three, four, or five days after pitching a game before pitching in another. Therefore, most professional baseball teams have four, five or six starting pitchers on their rosters. These pitchers, and the sequence in which they pitch, is known as the [[Glossary of baseball (R)#rotation|''rotation'']]. A team's best starter is known as the [[ace pitcher|ace]], and is almost always the first man to pitch in the rotation. In modern baseball, a five-man rotation is most common.<ref>For an evaluation of the relative merits of a four-man and a five-man rotation, see [[Rany Jazayerli]], "Doctoring The Numbers: The Five-Man Rotation, Part 3", BaseballProspectus.com (August 30, 2002).[http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=1622]</ref>

In contrast, a pitcher who enters the game after the first pitch of the game is a [[relief pitcher]]. Occasionally, an [[opener (baseball)|opener]] is used for only a few innings, and is replaced by a [[long reliever]] or a pitcher who would typically be a starting pitcher.