After the end of the MLB lockout, there were several concerns about pitching and how certain pitchers would respond after not being allowed to work out at team facilities.
With that in mind, certain teams decided that it would be a good idea to occasionally use position players on the mound in games that were not close in order to save their bullpens.
While putting a position player on the mound rarely ends up helping matters, it really didn’t help at all in 2022.
The first time a position player was used on the mound was 1982.
In 2022, position players gave up more hits than they ever had since 1982.
Hits allowed by MLB position players:
1982: 0 hits
1992: 1 home run
2002: 1 single, 1 home run
2012: 9 singles, 6 doubles, 2 home runs
2022: 132 singles, 42 doubles, 2 triples, 48 home runs 😯 pic.twitter.com/f0GxvHmWa6— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) December 11, 2022
MLB’s Pitching Problem
Of course, position players rarely pitch anyway.
This is more or less a reflection of how many times position players were required on the mound in 2022, which of course all connects to the lockout and pitchers not being able to throw at team facilities.
That is what caused this problem in the first place.
The number of hits allowed by position players should come as no surprise.
Simply put, the lockout is what caused this issue.
Concerns over the workload of pitchers is what prompted teams to use position players on the mound in the first place.
We saw stars such as Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina, Frank Schwindel, and others try their hand at pitching in 2022.
With this being a normal offseason, the health of pitchers will not be as major of a concern in 2023 as it has been in recent years.
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