From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
In baseball or softball, a starting pitcher is the pitcher who pitches the first pitch to the first batter of a game. A pitcher who enters the game after the first pitch of the game is a relief pitcher.
In professional baseball, starting pitchers are generally the highest paid players on the team. A manager of a baseball team would like the starting pitcher to pitch as many innings as possible in a game.
A starting pitcher in professional baseball usually rests three or four days after pitching a game before pitching another. Therefore, most professional baseball teams have four or five starting pitchers on their roster.
Starting pitchers usually have at least three good pitches--a fastball, a breaking pitch such as a curveball and a changeup.
Some of the most well known starting pitchers are Bob Gibson, Bob Feller, Babe Ruth and Randy Johnson.
