To get through a baseball season, a team needs starting pitching...and lots of it. The Rays of a few years ago tried to whole “let’s throw openers all the time!” approach to starting a game and look where that got them. It might have worked in the regular season, but at some point, a baseball team needs starters to take the bulk of the innings at the beginning of a baseball game. They’ve since reversed course and found the value in starting pitching, currently sitting second among all teams in innings pitched from their starters (behind the Phillies).
One pitcher to watch in the second half: Aaron Nola
