Who’s Your #1 Starter?

Just as basketball positions have morphed from what we knew as kids – guard, center, forward – to specific numbered slots, starting pitchers are now referred to as a #2 starter, #5 starter, etc. So far as I can tell, this refers to the order of who’s the best, on down. But what does it matter? In basketball, the number refers to the characteristics of the position – the “4 slot” may be a “power forward,” the most physical of your forwards; the “2 guard” is more the shooter than the passer (I’m guessing here) – but that’s not the case with pitchers. Your #5 starter could be a power pitcher or a finesse pitcher; it just means he’s the fifth starter the team puts out there when the season starts. The #1 guy is your Opening Day starter, but after that, what’s the difference? Once the order is set, the pitchers follow one after another – that’s why it’s called the “rotation” – and you’re just as likely to start a series with #3 as #1. Yet every pitcher is now pegged, by quality if not practice, as a #1 to #5.