Hall of Fame’s starting pitcher problem — and what it means
January 22, 2026
Hall of Fame’s starting pitcher problem — and what it means
9 comments
Kevin appier belongs in the hall.
I’ll die on this hill
I think they’re confusing major-league baseball’s starting pitching problem with the Hall of Fame having a starting pitching problem.
It’s the exact same problem that the 80s had: a lot of the greatest pitchers fell off very hard very quickly. Lincecum and Johan Santana, two of that generations greatest pitchers, are a prime example of this. There just weren’t enough pitchers putting up consistent numbers over prolonged periods of time.
Kuhn’s “Structure of Scientific Revolutions” is applicable here
The problem is the mainstream stats people use to determine HOF starters haven’t kept up with reality.
Look at Chris Sale. The man’s finished top five in Cy Young voting eight times. That should be the end of the debate right there in terms of his HOF candidacy. But if you go by JAWS, he’s 61st amongst starting pitchers, and just barely ahead of guys like Chuck Finley.
And that’s a sabermetric stat that’s supposed to cut through the BS.
Felix needs to be in
MARK BUEHRLE
Maybe today’s 5.2 IP starters just don’t belong in the HOF.
>Three hundred career wins? That punches your ticket, for the most part, but we might never see a 300-game winner again
I mean, other than maybe Cole, Sale and possibly Nola and Fried, we might never see a 200 game winner again either (for as good as Skubal’s been the past two seasons, he’s already 28 and only has 54 wins).
Obviously they’ll have to start reexamining how they evaluate the candidacy of modern day pitchers going forward.
9 comments
Kevin appier belongs in the hall.
I’ll die on this hill
I think they’re confusing major-league baseball’s starting pitching problem with the Hall of Fame having a starting pitching problem.
It’s the exact same problem that the 80s had: a lot of the greatest pitchers fell off very hard very quickly. Lincecum and Johan Santana, two of that generations greatest pitchers, are a prime example of this. There just weren’t enough pitchers putting up consistent numbers over prolonged periods of time.
Kuhn’s “Structure of Scientific Revolutions” is applicable here
The problem is the mainstream stats people use to determine HOF starters haven’t kept up with reality.
Look at Chris Sale. The man’s finished top five in Cy Young voting eight times. That should be the end of the debate right there in terms of his HOF candidacy. But if you go by JAWS, he’s 61st amongst starting pitchers, and just barely ahead of guys like Chuck Finley.
And that’s a sabermetric stat that’s supposed to cut through the BS.
Felix needs to be in
MARK BUEHRLE
Maybe today’s 5.2 IP starters just don’t belong in the HOF.
>Three hundred career wins? That punches your ticket, for the most part, but we might never see a 300-game winner again
I mean, other than maybe Cole, Sale and possibly Nola and Fried, we might never see a 200 game winner again either (for as good as Skubal’s been the past two seasons, he’s already 28 and only has 54 wins).
Obviously they’ll have to start reexamining how they evaluate the candidacy of modern day pitchers going forward.