MLB teams used to routinely make it through the season using only 20 or so pitchers. Now, they're lucky if they make it to June before crossing that threshold, Jeff writes.

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By the numbers: In 2010, 635 pitchers made an MLB appearance. This year, that number is already 638 and we're only a third of the way through the season.

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• The league has been trending this way for years, first eclipsing 700 in 2015, 800 in 2019 and reaching a high-water mark of 909* in 2021 when players were still missing time due to COVID.
• MLB implemented a three-batter minimum rule in 2020, which has moderately decreased the number of pitchers used per game but has had a negligible impact on the season-long total.

What's driving this? The sport has changed. Pitchers used to pride themselves on going deep into games, but the type of pitcher that teams value today — flamethrowers with high strikeout rates — can't eat as many innings. More arms are required to make the math add up.

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• Consider this: In 2005, 50 pitchers threw at least 200 innings. In 2019, just 15 guys crossed that threshold. Last year? Four.
• This "death of the innings eater" isn't just about endurance, either. Analytics-minded managers tend to pull their starters before their third or fourth time through the order, turning instead to a long string of relievers.

Between the lines: Health also plays a major (and related) role, because while increasing velocity leads to more strikeouts, it has also fueled a . The more arms on the IL, the more are needed to fill those spots.

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What they're saying: "If you miss more bats, you get more outs. If you get more outs, you accumulate more wins. If you accumulate more wins, you get paid more," Cubs GM Carter Hawkins told The Athletic (). "So the incentive structure is geared towards that, but it's more taxing on pitchers and therefore (you need) more rest for pitchers at different times."

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Bottom line: MLB's "stuff over stamina" era has yielded a new status quo: It's no longer about how many innings your starter can give you, but how many quality arms are waiting in the wings.