The Quality Start Is Dying—and So Is a Starting Pitcher’s Value

On Tuesday, April 15th, 120 Minor League Baseball teams took the field.
Not one starting pitcher threw 100 pitches.

Not one.

Of the 120 starters, only 13 (11%) pitched at least six innings—and every one of them earned a quality start.

By MLB's own definition, a quality start means pitching at least six innings and allowing three earned runs or fewer. It's the simplest measure of a pitcher doing their job: preventing runs and getting outs.

But in today's game, even that modest benchmark is becoming harder to reach.

Why?

Because arbitrary pitch count limits—especially the now-sacred 100-pitch ceiling—are holding pitchers back from developing the endurance, consistency, and sequencing required to become traditional starters.

Here’s what the average outing looked like across each level on April 15th:

• AAA – 4.14 IP / 72.5 pitches

• AA – 3.54 IP / 68.9 pitches

• High-A – 3.60 IP / 67.8 pitches

• Single-A – 3.52 IP / 64.4 pitches

Only three pitchers threw more than 90 pitches. And while some will say, “It’s still early in the season,” isn’t that what spring training is for?

Two alarming possibilities arise:
A generation of pitchers has been developed that can’t pitch deep into games.
Or the system in place simply won’t let them.

Maybe it's both.

Either way, the result is the same: pitchers are breaking down faster than ever—not despite these limits, but because of them.

This isn't about blaming pitchers. It’s about the structure they're forced to navigate. A structure that rewards max-effort pitch output, not sustainable workload. A structure that prioritizes velocity over volume. A structure that moves pitchers through levels quickly, without ever teaching them how to compete deep into games.

And here’s what no one’s talking about:
The long-term value of a starting pitcher is being quietly erased.

If starters aren’t being trained, trusted, or expected to pitch deep into games, how can they be compensated like they are?
Agents will have less leverage. Clubs will cite usage data to diminish a pitcher's earning power. And slowly, the identity—and financial value—of the traditional starter will disappear altogether.

We can’t expect a pitcher to become a workhorse at the MLB level if they’ve never been incentivized or prepared to be one.

As a former professional starting pitcher, it used to mean something to be the guy who took the ball and didn’t hand it over. That role carried responsibility. It carried identity. It carried value.

If Major League Baseball wants to solve the injury crisis and reclaim the lost art of the durable starter, the solution is simple:

Incentivize quality starts. Reward pitchers who build endurance. Redefine value—not by how hard you throw, but how long you last.

Because until that happens, the decline of the starting pitcher isn’t just a trend. It’s a choice.

Also—credit to the Athletics and Yankees, who had 3 of their 4 starting pitchers go at least six innings in a game. A small reminder that it can still be done.