SP

SI.com

The cover story of the latest SI is about the end of the HR era.

As I recall, Mr. Verducci made the case for the new steroid policy having a deletorious effect on HR, but he simultaneously lauded a new crop of dominating young SP.

To me, these two observations can be cause-and-effect. The reason that SP are dominating is that hitters cannot use steroids to help performance. This would be in concurrence with the article.

This statement also supports the idea that steroids were not used to obtain super strength so much as used to speed recovery time, and those players who played everyday are the ones most negatively effected.

Obviously, hitters are the ones who play everyday, but relievers can also be lumped into this categorization.

The one class of player who cannot is the starting pitcher as they only play once every five days! This would have comported well with Mr. Verducci's thesis of the end of the longball era while also addressing the anecdotal evidence of a strong steroid effect. However, it does not do well with his thesis of a new crop of dominating young SP as there performance can be explained by the steroid one and not one of amazing pitching prowess.

There is one variable that Roto players should consider. These everyday players who have been harmed by their prior reliance upon the pahrmaceutical industry for more rapid recovery will adjust. The question how far into this season will it take to occur, and when it does, get ready for some bad pitching stretches.