Editing Innings pitched (section)

==Decline==
In [[Major League Baseball]], the only active players in the top 100 all-time at the end of the {{by|2009}} season were [[Tom Glavine]] (ranked 30th with {{frac|4,413|1|3}} IP), [[Randy Johnson]] (ranked 38th with {{frac|4,135|1|3}}), [[Jamie Moyer]] (ranked 45th with {{frac|3,908|2|3}}) and [[John Smoltz]] (ranked 74th with 3473). By the end of the {{by|2018}} season, only two active players were in the top 100 all-time: [[CC Sabathia]] (ranked 73rd with 3470), and [[Bartolo Colón]] (ranked 74th with {{frac|3461|2|3}}). This is because over time, innings pitched have declined. Several factors are responsible for this decline{{Citation needed|date=April 2008}}:
*From 1876 to 1892, pitchers threw from fifty feet and exerted less stress on their arms (also pitchers often threw underhand in this era). In this era, season totals of 600 innings pitched were not uncommon.
*In 1893, the mound (the pitching rubber, to be more precise) was moved back to the current distance of sixty feet, six inches. However, they still often threw 400 innings in a season. This was because the [[home run]] was far less common and pitchers often conserved arm strength throughout the game.
*From 1920 to the 1980s, the four-man [[Glossary of baseball (R)#rotation|pitching rotation]] was well established. Pitchers could no longer throw 400 innings in a season, as the [[home run]] meant a run could be scored at any time. The league leader in innings pitched often threw somewhat more than 300 innings. Occasionally, innings pitched would spike, as in the early 1970s, when [[Wilbur Wood]] pitched {{frac|376|2|3}} innings in {{by|1972}} and then {{frac|359|1|3}} innings in {{by|1973}}.
*From the 1980s to the present, the four-man rotation was replaced with the five-man rotation, with a weak fifth man who would often be skipped on off days. Also, managers starting using their [[bullpen]]s more and more, accelerating the decline in innings pitched. As of the start of the 2022 season no pitcher has thrown 250 innings since [[Justin Verlander]] in 2011.