Editing Starting pitcher (section)

==Workload==

Under ideal circumstances, a [[baseball manager|manager of a baseball team]] would prefer a starting pitcher to pitch as many innings as possible in a game. Most regular starting pitchers pitch for at least five innings on a regular basis, and if a pitcher is unable to do so, there is a high probability that he will, in the future, be relegated to duty in the [[bullpen]]. In modern baseball, a starting pitcher is rarely expected to pitch for more than seven or eight innings, at which point, responsibility for the game is passed to ''relief'' pitchers, including ''specialist'' pitchers such as [[setup pitcher]]s and [[closer (baseball)|closers]].

Often, a starting pitcher is subject to a [[pitch count]], meaning the [[baseball manager|manager]] will remove him from the game once he has thrown a specific number of pitches. The most common pitch count for a modern pitcher is about 100, and it is now rare for a starting pitcher to throw more than 125 pitches in a game. Pitch count limits are especially common for starting pitchers who are recovering from [[injury]].

At the youth level, such as in [[Little League Baseball]], pitch counts are usually capped at a certain point as well as required rest before a pitcher can pitch again.<ref>{{Cite web|last=League|first=Little|title=Regular Season Pitching Rules|url=https://www.littleleague.org/playing-rules/pitch-count/|access-date=2020-12-30|website=Little League|language=en-US}}</ref>

In the [[2018 MLB season]], the [[Tampa Bay Rays]] debuted a variant of the starting pitcher dubbed the "[[opener (baseball)|opener]],"<ref>{{Cite web|title=How has a year of 'the opener' changed MLB?|url=https://www.mlb.com/news/how-has-a-year-of-the-opener-changed-baseball|access-date=2020-12-30|website=MLB.com|language=en}}</ref> whose role is a hybrid between those of the traditional starting pitcher and the [[closer (baseball)|closer]]. In the opener strategy, a [[relief pitcher]] starts the game and pitches the first one or two innings (when guaranteed to face the top hitters in the opponent's lineup) before giving way to a [[long reliever]] to work the middle innings of the game. On some occasions, teams would use multiple relievers who could pitch only one or two innings after the opener; this became known as a ''bullpen game''. Due to their lighter workload and conditioning, openers are able to pitch more frequently than a traditional starter.

In the early decades of baseball, it was not uncommon for a starting pitcher to pitch 300 innings or more, over the course of a season. In addition, there are accounts of starting pitchers pitching on consecutive days, or even in both games of a [[Doubleheader (baseball)|doubleheader]]. It is believed that these feats were only possible because pitchers in the early years of the game, unlike modern starters, rarely threw the ball with maximum effort.

A starting pitcher who can be counted on to consistently throw many innings is known as a ''workhorse''. An example of a modern-day workhorse pitcher was [[Roy Halladay]], who was the active leader in both complete games thrown and shutouts before his retirement in 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://articles.mcall.com/2011-05-05/sports/mc-sports-buzz-050511_1_colonial-league-softball-volleyball-fans-nationals|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120709142635/http://articles.mcall.com/2011-05-05/sports/mc-sports-buzz-050511_1_colonial-league-softball-volleyball-fans-nationals|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 9, 2012|title=Halladay goes for 61 against Nationals|work=tribunedigital-mcall}}</ref>

A pitcher that normally isn't a regular member of a team's starting rotation that situationally starts a game is commonly referred to as a "spot starter."{{cn|date=July 2022}} Pitchers that make spot starts are often relief pitchers mainly [[Long reliever|long-relief pitchers]] out of the bullpen that are tasked to pitch multiple innings or a starting pitcher that is promoted from a club's minor league team to make sporadic starts. Spot starts typically occur because of emergency instances like a sudden injury to a scheduled starting pitcher in the rotation, or if there are multiple doubleheaders requiring a tight workload.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Reds' Jose De Leon: To serve as spot starter |url=https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/news/reds-jose-de-leon-to-serve-as-spot-starter/ |access-date=2022-03-21 |website=CBSSports.com |date=March 27, 2021 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-09-23 |title=Mets scratch Syndergaard (strep) from start |url=https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/17621202/noah-syndergaard-new-york-mets-strep-throat-scratched-start-vs-philadelphia-phillies |access-date=2022-03-21 |website=ESPN.com |language=en}}</ref>