College Pitching Staffs

They also don't have a minor league to roster pitchers who aren't ready for prime time.

There are many reasons not to compare college with MLB; the post-game spread springs to mind .

MLB has a staff of pitchers who have lasted through time in the minors against comarable players; colleges have best-guess/scouting opportunity guys who may have pitched against Baby Ruths or just Punch and Judy.

MLB is a job; college is ( ) an extracurricular activity. LaRussa's long relief man isn't in danger of being unavailable because of a bad trig grade.

MLB can call up replacements for injured players from MiLB; college coaches have to call them from the bench.

Playing 5 games a week requires a lot of arms. Everyone needs to contribute, some of those l6-l7 are probably two-way guys also.

Players get hurt, need rest and are in variying degrees of experience at the collegiate level.

In college, you could probably never have too many pitchers.

I would say that 16-17 is a bit high for a 25 man travel squad, but probably right on for a 35 man roster. More like 12-13 on a travel squad. Like iheartbb says, some of them may go both ways on the travel squad.

quote:

There are many reasons not to compare college with MLB; the post-game spread springs to mind .

Unless you are a Cajun?

Pitchers get hurt during the season, miss games for classes, get sick, don't pitch well, don't develop fast enough or at all. A quick check of team statistics suggests that about half of the pitchers throw most of the innings. Some teams do a better job of evening the workload over the course of the season as pitchers develop.

A college pitching staff is a work in progress over the season. As was mentioned, the developing parts don't come on an off the roster like proball.

jb

Somebody has to chase the foul balls during games, and shag during bp. Also with 16 pitchers its easier to get 2 full poker tables going.

I got nothin... just love deemax' avatar.

Carry gear on the road too.

Down at my son's level they let even let the position players play poker with them.

At my sons college, all the freshman have to be in uniform all the time, so the upperclassmen make them stand guard outside the clubhouse while the poker game is going on.

quote:

Originally posted by deemax:
jb

Somebody has to chase the foul balls during games, and shag during bp. Also with 16 pitchers its easier to get 2 full poker tables going.

They also need the extra pitchers to throw in practice or intra squad games. Sometimes those guys develop and sometimes they don't. Sometimes they find a diamond in the rough from that group too.

Take a look at any MLB team's 2007 stats and you'll see that they probably used 20 or more pitchers over the course of the year. They call guys up, send them back down, etc. Plus, they may have one or more guys on the DL all season long. College teams don't have that luxury.

quote:

Originally posted by CPLZ:
At my sons college, all the freshman have to be in uniform all the time, so the upperclassmen make them stand guard outside the clubhouse while the poker game is going on.

Freshmen poker players can be a major source of income to upperclasmen.

quote:

Originally posted by RJM:

quote:

Originally posted by CPLZ:
At my sons college, all the freshman have to be in uniform all the time, so the upperclassmen make them stand guard outside the clubhouse while the poker game is going on.

Freshmen poker players can be a major source of income to upperclasmen.

Not at West Point. The upperclassmen are not allowed to "fraternize" with the freshman, it's a violation.

Some schools only travel 9 pitchers for a 3 game series. Sometimes as few as 4 pitch.