How Many Innings Must a Pitcher Play to Get the Win?

You’ve seen it before. A starting pitcher has pitched very well into the 4th inning but is starting to lose steam. Batters are making much more contact now and his fast ball has lost some velocity. Maybe his breaking balls are breaking very crisply. So, why does the manager keep him in the game?

The way MLB rules are set up, a starting pitcher must complete a minimum of 5 innings to qualify for the win. Some folks say that wins are irrelevant, as long as the team wins and pitcher’s ERA looks good. But don’t kid yourself, pitchers love having those wins.

A good manager will keep his man on the mound so long as he doesn’t become a threat to the team winning the game. He may allow him to give up one or even two runs just so long as they have a bit of a scoring cushion. But if that pitcher is clearly “out of gas” a good manager won’t hesitate to get him out of there.

What About Betting Starting Pitchers?

When you bet on a baseball side, you have choices when it comes to how you bet it. You can specify that the bet is only good if both listed pitchers start. You can also bet the game and specify that at least one of the listed pitchers starts. In both of these scenarios, if a starting pitcher is scratched, then your bet in cancelled. After all, much of baseball betting revolves around who is on the mound.

You can also just bet the game regardless of what happens with the starting pitchers. This type of baseball bet is called an “action bet”. Your action is on the team you bet regardless of if the pitcher bows out.

Personally, I make sure that at the very least my starting pitcher starts the game. When I handicap a game, pitching a big part of that. There have been horror stories of guys placing action bets on their team and then the starter is scratched. Now they are stuck with a -200 bet, and the team managers have decided to use the kid they just brought up from the minors yesterday. Or the manager will just play the game with nothing but relief bullpen pitchers. Either way, you are already behind thee 8 ball if any of this happens.