Questions about pitchers
Regarding pitchers, I have the following questions:
Why are there so many pitchers on the active roster? The bullpen itself takes up almost half of the 23-men roster, and not all of them will play in all games as opposed to other positions.
Why can't one pitcher pitch the entire game but there needs to be at least a closing pitcher and the majority of the times relief pitchers? I get that if the starting pitcher is struggling then the coach will switch him out with a reliever but if the starter's doing well, can't he pitch the duration of the game?
Why is it that 90% of the pitchers only pitch and not play offense? This may sound weird but when I first heard about the bullpen, I genuinely thought there were different players for pitching, offense and fielding. However many pitchers only pitch, and the offense is usually made up of fielders.
None of these questions are to take a jab at the pitchers, I understand that they're at the core of baseball, I just find positions in baseball a bit confusing and want some clarification.