MLB's Rob Manfred Wants to Make Starting Pitchers More Prominent; Fewer 'Openers'

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred wants to see starting pitchers take the mound more frequently instead of having games feature multiple relievers in 2024, according to ESPN's Jesse Rogers.

"There's a lot of fans who feel like the change from 'let's see who today's pitching matchup is' to 'who's the opener today' has not been a positive one," Manfred said.

The trend of MLB teams having numerous bullpen pitchers enter the game in each inning has risen in recent years.

The Tampa Bay Rays popularized the method in 2018, sending out a reliever to handle the top of the opponents' batting order before typically removing the pitcher prior to the start of the second inning.

Rays right-hander Ryne Stanek recorded 29 games started that season despite pitching a total of 66.1 innings.

Traditional starting pitchers are expected to go at least five innings before they're taken out, depending on their performance.

The Arizona Diamondbacks recently utilized the strategy in Game 4 of the 2023 NLCS, having reliever Joe Mantiply start on the mound before cycling through other bullpen arms nearly every inning.

By the end of the night, manager Torey Lovullo had used eight pitchers with none of them getting more than two innings of work. The Diamondbacks won by the final score of 6-5.

Major League Baseball implemented several new rule changes before the 2023 season, as nearly all of them were created with the purpose of speeding up the game. It's possible that Manfred believes that "bullpen games" are lengthening the time of each contest due to the frequent pitching changes required.