It seems like there's a limit on how many IP you can actually get out of a pitcher because of this... Maybe because of this inning "cap" this cap should be reflected in the salaries of pitchers... say, beyond 600 IP (or so, the cap might be a bit higher than this), you don't pay more than you would at that... and the database should treat the pitcher as the max IP too...

For the opposite reason, I'd say there could easily be a PA cap... who uses more than 750 PAs anyway, given the 10% cushion? Those 800 PA dudes seem rather useless because of this... though I suppose extreme high offense leagues could use 'em, but those players aren't extremely high offense players... I could see capping the cost at 750 PA in a similar fashion...

Not sure how valid these observations are... so feel free to blast me constructively, it'll make for good discussion.

(And, if this hijacks the thread, my apologies, I don't intend for that)

I think the limit for pitchers could be something like 650 innings -- with the 10% bonus that would be 715 innings.  If your pitcher started 81 games and averaged 9 innings a start, that'd still be only 729 innings.  (I know fatigue is currently based on pitch count, but it can't be that far off.)

Paying for 848 innings, the way pitching fatigue works now, makes no sense.

The most innings I've been able to get out of a pitcher (at 90% or better) was somewhere between 740-750 IP. The most I've been able to get at 100% is 732 ('85 Caruthers in a champs league, still listed in the records for IP, CG, & GS). Seems to me that paying for any more than 680 IP is wasting money on excess IP (though, I do keep trying to both top 750 IP and 110 starts -- there's got to be a way to do it somehow without fatiguing your pitchers). Boogerlips and I had been sitemailing about this not too long ago and it's inspired me to try again... 750 IP AND 110 starts from one pitcher.

Since it's on topic, I'm going to shamelessly self-promote. I'm running a test league with the intention of trying to max these high IP/162 pitchers out. To sweeten the pot for a test league I'm ponying up three GCs as well for the owners that gen the most games (none in the red), most games at 100%, and most IP above a target for each specific pitcher (750 min).

League can be found here: 700 IP challenge. It's about 2/3 full right now.

Ok, so, this is the best performance insomuch as IP and CG I've been able to get out of someone:



I have gotten more starts from Silver King and Toad Ramsey, and I've gotten better from both of them as well, but Clarkson is the only pitcher I've been able to get more than 770 IP out of. I've twice gotten 830+ from him. I'm confident I can get 900+ out of him, but we'll see. As I posted above, the most I've been able to get at entirely 100% is 732, and the most above 90% is just below 750. To get this, Clarkson made a few starts between 85-90%.

So, my '89 Clarkson gives up 6 ER over 5 IP in his final start to bump his ERA to 4.79 -- one percentage point higher than the 4.78 needed to be the best season on his Performance History (Entered the game with a 4.75 ERA).

His performance history prior to this season:




This Season:


I almost didn't start him in the last game to insure that I got the best season on his PH as that would have given me the best season for both the '85 & '89 Clarkson, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity for 100 starts.