Starting Pitchers vs. Relief Pitchers There are many differences and similarities between relief pitchers and starting pitchers. There are many different types of relief pitchers that each team has in its bullpen. While starting pitcher each team usually has about 5 starters that rotate through each game, which leaves the rest of the game up to the relief pitchers once the starter can no longer go. People do not normally realize that saying a person is a pitcher is quite a general statement. For example starting pitchers is defined as the pitcher who delivers the first pitch of the game to the first batter. Even if that pitcher gets hurt on that pitch he is still the starter. Normally starting pitchers are supposed to go the majority of the game depending on how many innings the game is going to last. If the game is seven innings long a good starter will go about five or six for a solid start. In a nine inning game the starter should go about six or seven. If the pitchers consistently cannot reach his need for innings they will most likely be put in the bullpen. Usually the determining factor in which decides how long a pitcher will go is the pitch count. The pitch count is exactly what it sounds like the amount of pitchers a pitcher has thrown to batters. In the season a starter is expected to be able to throw around one hundred pitches a game and be able to recover for their next start. A starting pitcher must throw a minimum of five innings to qualify for a win in the statistics book. The quality of the start is also determined by the amount of runs a pitcher gives up in his outing. Which can depend on the way the game is going, if it’s a blow out it’s expected of the pitcher to allow the other team to hit into outs and not try and strike out every batter. That way the pitcher is able to extend his outing and keep his pitch count down in the low