How many pitches...?

[baseballphanatic]

How many pitches do you prefer your starting pitchers to have? Or does it matter to any of you guys? I personally refuse to use a SP who has 3 pitches. 4 or 5, or they r flat out trade bait or will find a spot in the bullpen.

[fullmetal2405]

Quality, not quantity. I don't care how MANY pitches a guy has, I care about how well he throws them. Most pitchers these days only have 3 pitches that they really use. Good starters will have a 4th, maybe a 5th to sprinkle in once in a while but even they will typically stick to 3. Better to have 3 very effective pitches rather then 4 okay pitches.

Don't get me wrong, you will find a pitcher once in a while that can very effectively throw 5 pitches, but typically... not so much.

Even guys that have 4 or more pitches, I typically only use the first three. Through five with Tanaka right now I've only thrown 3 pitches that weren't his #1, #2, or #3

[KBLover]

I prefer four or five, but the number of pitches won't change how I use/consider the pitcher.

As mentioned above, effectiveness and overall pitch ratings (control/velocity/movement) carry more weight.

All things being equal, I'll take more over less pitches, just in case some aren't effective or lose "confidence" so he'll have more to fall back on when things get dicey.

With 3-pitch guys, the only ones I might get down on are the ones with only two of the pitches being decent. Maybe. Then again, Guerrieri last year I basically just used his 2-seam and 12-6 curve and owned. He had a splitter but it was meh and rare stayed solid all game.

[bfielder]

All about quality. If you have a guy who has 3 elite or above average pitches, that's all you need.

[Hoosierdaddy76]

Quote: Originally Posted by fullmetal2405

I don't care how MANY pitches a guy has, I care about how well he throws them.

Agree with Fullmetal's whole post, but especially this part. Been rolling with three pitches on my RTTS as a starter: 4-seam, 2-seam, 12-6 curve. Thinking about adding a slider or circle change as a 4th pitch later on down the road (am only in my second season in the bigs).

These three pitches have been enough to get me out of the minors before the All-Star break, win the RoY, and make the All-Star game in my second season. You don't need a bunch of junk to keep hitters off-balance. It's all about command and changing the speed and location of whatever you're using.

[StevenSD]

I usually turn starting pitchers with three pitches into a reliever or a closer. Makes scouting so much easier, plus they all have better stamina and can go a few extra innings if needed.

[reyes the roof]

Three pitches is plenty for me, give me a fastball, an off speed pitch and a breaking ball and I'm happy

[JPCaveman13]

I like to have 4-5 pitches but I focus on quality before quantity. Generally, I find a pitch or two that are sorta universal pitches (can be used effectively in any part of the zone and against any hitter type), then I'll find a couple pitches that are more effective against hitters on one side of the plate. If I have a slot available, I might add a true change-of-pace pitch. For example, my RTTS SP (LHP) has 4FB and Slider that works well anywhere, Cutter for the righties, RFB for the lefties, and 12-6 curve as a change-of-pace pitch. With that repertoire, I usually only throw 3 different pitches to batters on either side of the plate (4FB, Cutter, Slider for righties...4FB, RFB, Slider for lefties) with the occasional curve mixed in or it'll take the place of my slider if it isn't "on" for that game.