World Baseball Classic: Does WBC Give Starting Pitchers Hangover for Season?
Does the World Baseball Classic make pitchers vulnerable for the upcoming season?
With the fourth edition of the World Baseball Classic now in the rear view mirror, it is time to focus on Opening Day 2017, just days away. And while Team USA was crowned champions of the tournament in dominant fashion, does the WBC provide a bad omen for the starting pitchers that compete?
While pitching restrictions are implemented during the WBC to limit early wear and tear, being a starting pitcher for Team USA has not exactly set up good fortunes going into the regular season. In this tournament, as a staff, Team USA allowed just 17 runs in the eight games, with four of those games coming against the loaded lineups of Team Puerto Rico and Team Dominican Republic. However, for guys like Marcus Stroman and Danny Duffy, the fast start to the season may lead to a long summer.
To examine the starting pitchers in the previous World Baseball Classics for Team USA, the numbers show big drop-offs for the guys that take the mound after competing in the event.
| 2006 Team USA Starters | 2005 Stats | 2006 Stats |
| Roger Clemens | 13-8, 1.87 ERA, 32 starts | 7-6, 2.30 ERA, 19 starts |
| Jake Peavy | 13-7, 2.88 ERA, 30 starts | 11-14. 4.09 ERA, 32 starts |
| Dontrelle Willis | 22-10, 2.63 ERA, 34 starts | 12-12, 3.87 ERA, 34 starts |
| 2009 Team USA Starters | 2008 Stats | 2009 Stats |
| Roy Oswalt | 17-10, 3.54 ERA, 32 starts | 8-6, 4.12 ERA, 30 starts |
| Ted Lilly | 17-9, 4.09 ERA, 34 starts | 12-9, 3.10 ERA, 27 starts |
| Jake Peavy | 10-11, 2.85 ERA, 27 starts | 9-6, 3.45 ERA, 16 starts |
| Jeremy Guthrie | 10-12, 3.63 ERA, 30 starts | 10-17, 5.04 ERA, 33 starts |
| 2013 Team USA Starters | 2012 Stats | 2013 Stats |
| R.A. Dickey | 20-6, 2.73 ERA, 33 starts | 14-13, 4.21 ERA, 34 starts |
| Ryan Vogelsong | 14-9, 3.37 ERA, 31 starts | 4-6, 5.73 ERA, 19 starts |
| Gio Gonzalez | 21-8, 2.89 ERA, 32 starts | 11-8, 3.36 ERA, 32 starts |
| Derek Holland | 12-7, 4.67 ERA, 27 starts | 10-9, 3.42 ERA, 33 starts |
Really just Ted Lilly in 2009 was the only starting pitcher not to experience a drop-off from the previous season after pitching in the World Baseball Classic. While the WBC is bringing awareness to the game globally and is more entertaining than the average spring training game, is it creating too many stress pitches for guys too soon? The spring is where stamina is built, and mechanics are fine-tuned. Can an argument be made that the WBC might take guys too much out of their routines that they are never really able to recover throughout the season?
| 2017 Team USA Starters | 2016 Stats | |
| Marcus Stroman | 9-10, 4.37 ERA, 32 starts | |
| Danny Duffy | 12-3, 3.51 ERA, 26 starts | |
| Chris Archer | 9-19, 4.02 ERA, 33 starts | |
| Tanner Roark | 16-10, 2.83 ERA, 33 starts | |
| Drew Smyly | 7-12, 4.88 ERA, 30 starts |
Now for Stroman and Archer, they are likely Opening Day starters that may welcome the challenge of bouncing back after playing in the WBC, coupled with having down years a season ago. For Stroman and Archer, they are two young, talented arms that do not project to have back-to-back down years.
The question will be how will Duffy and Roark respond in 2017 after breakout seasons a year ago. Might they be the starters that experience the WBC letdown?
More from Call to the Pen
- Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
- Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
- Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
- Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
- 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals
Next: 2017 X-Factors for NL East
For Team USA, they are World Baseball Classic champions for the first time. But for the stars-and-stripes starting pitchers, how 2017 plays out the rest of the way will be something to keep an eye on.