But that everyday position player also plays defense. And will probably play the whole game. Pitchers used to be able to play the whole game, odd that in this time when every sport is seeing players getting bigger, stronger, faster and performing more pitchers have diminishing expectations.
Actually, today's pitchers are bigger an stronger than they've ever been.
But, in order to succeed, they have to employ maximum effort on just about every pitch. Because the hitters are also bigger and stronger than they've ever been.
Moreover, it requires more pitchers to complete an average inning. About 15-16 is the optimum nowadays.
Pitch counts are way up from the twenties, the fifties, even the seventies. That's because batters take more pitches now, waiting for a pitch they can drive. This has proven to be a productive offensive strategy -- it results in more power, more runs.
As a result, walks and strikeouts have multiplied -- and those 5-and-6 pitch ABs are replacing the 1-and-2 pitch ABs that were common earlier in the game's history -- when there was an onus against striking out.
Go to Baseball Reference and check the hitting and pitching league leaders for walks and strikeouts between today and, say, 1952. You'll be stunned.
We've only got pitch counts for the last 30-or-so years, but it's believed that sixty years ago, it took an average of 80-90 pitches to work a complete game. Today, the average would top 150.