There was a time when starting pitchers went out and pitched deep into games.

Many times, a starting pitcher would go seven or eight innings and hand the game over to a closer to go the final inning or two.

That role has changed, and teams seem to be OK with that change. In fact, very few organizations push starting pitchers to go deep into games anymore, putting more of an emphasis on relief pitching.

Major League Baseball now wants to tinker with the game again and put more of an emphasis on starters working deep into games, requiring them to pitch six innings per start.

On the surface, the proposal may sound too strange to ever be considered. You are going to force a guy making multiple million dollars per season to push himself beyond what he has been conditioned to do?

The rule does carry some exemptions, though that could make it more palatable.

First, if he reaches the 100-pitch mark before finishing six innings, he can be lifted. Second, if he allows four earned runs or more, he can be lifted. And finally, if he is injured, he can be taken out, but he must then be placed on the injured list so as to avoid manipulating the rule.

In the 70s and 80s, pitchers routinely pitched six innings. Hall of Famer Steve Carlton averaged 7.3 innings per start. Even average pitchers like Larry Christensen of the Phillies would give a team six innings with “LC” averaging 6.2 innings per start. Heck, even Randy Lerch, who was a weak link among starters, averaged 5.7 innings per start.

This season, the average starter averages 5.25 innings in the majors and 4.3 innings in the minors. Keep in mind that those numbers are skewed by things like seven-inning minor league doubleheaders and the increase of “openers” in the majors.

The fact is that teams have basically given up on having starters pitch deep into games. They are conditioning younger pitchers to not throw as many pitches, meaning they don’t pitch as deep into games. The new rule would fly in the face of that trend and could force teams to reintroduce training methods designed to get pitchers to pitch deeper into games.

Proponents of the rule point to the increase in injuries to starting pitchers over the past several seasons, but that fails to take into consideration the increased emphasis on velocity and a change in how players train, putting more emphasis on things like weightlifting — which was not a key element of training for pitchers back in the days of complete games.

A THROWBACK … Having said all of that about pitching, the Phillies recently added 30-year-old reliever Tyler Gilbert to their roster from Lehigh Valley. The Phillies acquired him in a minor league trade with Cincinnati in early May and he eventually became the IronPigs closer, saving seven games in seven opportunities with his last two saves being five outs and six outs, something that rarely happens. With Lehigh Valley, Gilbert was 4-0, 2.06 in 27 relief appearances and had a 19-inning stretch where he struck out 28 batters and walked just one. He followed that with an 11 1/3-inning scoreless streak where he allowed three hits and a walk with 18 strikeouts.

HALL OF HISTORY … Darick Hall recently became the IronPigs all-time leader in home runs and has now taken over the lead as the franchise’s all-time RBI leader when he drove in Buddy Kennedy for his 262nd RBI with the Pigs last Thursday in Worcester.

ABEL REBOUNDS … After a stint on the Developmental List, Mick Abel has turned things around. In his two starts since being reactivated, Abel has thrown 11 1/3 scoreless innings allowing six hits and striking out 15. To nit-pick, Abel has walked six in the two games, which is higher than where the Phillies want him to be. He has lowered his ERA from 6.67 to 5.83 in the two games.

OFFENSE ANYONE? ... The recent trip to Worcester saw Lehigh Valley go 1-5 and were shut out in back-to-back games by identical 3-0 scores with the team collecting just eight hits combined in the two games. One of those games ruined the IronPigs debut of pitcher Robinson Pina, who allowed just two earned runs in five innings only to take the loss. Pina, 25, made 19 starts for Reading and was 12-4 with a 3.95 ERA with the Fightins. The stretch dropped Lehigh Valley to 22-21 in the second half and has them four games out in the IL East and 6 ½ games out of the top spot in the league which they need to capture for a trip to the postseason.