MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred shot down the idea of a minimum innings requirement for starting pitchers, but Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman isn't buying it.
Manfred appeared on Foul Territory on Monday where he called an innings requirement “too blunt an instrument to fix this problem.” The problem, he explains, is that starting pitchers are needed to market the game, but at the same time, too many are getting hurt.
“Our physicians have studied this carefully,” he said. “They continue to believe that the focus on velocity and spin rate is a significant cause of the increase in injuries. And marketing the game, just think about the broadcast. The face that you see the most in a broadcast is the starting pitcher and the matchups of great starting pitchers historically have been important in terms of the marketing of the game. I do think we do need to get back to that.”
Gausman, who just finished his third season with the Blue Jays, weighed in on Tuesday afternoon, urging fans to take Manfred's comments with a grain of salt.
“Don’t believe a word this man says,” he wrote via X. “Get ready for 6 innings you get to keep the DH, if not a fan hits in their spot.”
While Gausman was obviously exaggerating, he's not the only player who has been peeved by the rash of rule changes MLB has introduced under Manfred. The last few years alone have brought the universal DH, pitch clocks, wider bases, mound visits remaining and more.
Rob Manfred wants to incentivize teams to develop starting pitchers who go deeper into games

While Manfred doesn't support requiring starters to pitch a certain number of innings, he still thinks there are rule changes that can address the problem.
“To me, this needs to be addressed in a more subtle way,” he continued. “I think maybe through rules surrounding transactions. That is, how often can pitchers come on and off the roster? One of the things that happens today: A guy pitches three days in a row, gets outrighted. They bring somebody else in to get him some rest as opposed to him staying on the roster the whole time… I think it has to be a series of rules that create an incentive for the clubs to develop pitchers of a certain type.”
Rules like the one Manfred outlined would give managers fewer bullpen options and hopefully encourage them to ride their starters longer. That, in turn, could make teams focus more of their development on stamina so that 90-100 pitches isn't the de facto limit it has come to be.