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Rob Manfred: MLB exploring limiting use of relief pitchers

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said the league is looking into limiting the use of relief pitchers.
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MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said Thursday the league is looking into limiting the use of relief pitchers.

Manfred made the comments on ESPN Radio’s Mike & Mike.

Citing the effectiveness of end-of-game relievers, Manfred said MLB has looked into the issue, discussing the restriction of relievers within a game or an inning.

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Manfred said he would be “in favor” of such a restriction.

“You know the problem with relief pitchers is that they're so good,” Manfred said. “I've got nothing against relief pitchers but they do two things to the game; the pitching changes themselves slow the game down and our relief pitchers have become so dominate at the back end that they actually rob action out of the end of the game, the last few innings of the game. So relief pitchers is a topic that is under active consideration. We're talking about that a lot internally.”