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What happened to starting pitchers? They don’t make ‘em like they used to

St. Louis Cardinals great Bob Gibson threw 28 complete games in 1968 but did not lead the National League that year because the San Francisco Giants’ Juan Marichal threw 30.

In 2017, Max Scherzer, Clayton Richard, Ivan Nova and Carlos Martinez tied for most complete games in the National League: two.

In 2001, 44 big-league pitchers threw 200 innings or more; in 2017 there were 15.

In 2002, 58 pitchers threw 3,000 pitches or more; last season it was 33.

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Starting pitchers today are throwing fewer pitches, fewer innings and fewer complete games.