Do SP* exist anymore, really?

Starting pitchers who actually pitch on three days rest in the modern game.... They don't exist anymore. There are lots of pitchers in MLB who start 33-34 games over the course of the season. A few here and there get in 35 games started. The last time a pitcher started 36 games was 2003. The last time a pitcher started 37 games was 1991.

I don't know what constitutes three days rest. For SOM online 162 game schedules with no days off, #1 and #2 in a four man rotation can get 41 games started. In a five man rotation, #1 and #2 can get 33 games started. In MLB where there are days off, a #1 starter on a strict four days off between starts can easily get 36 games started if he doesn't miss any time due to injuries. Jayson Stark would know how to find out - when was the last time a MLB starting pitcher started 3 games during the regular season on three days rest? It doesn't happen anymore. Why does SOM online still have SP*?

SOM has become far more realistic over the years since I first played it in 1966. However--and I am puzzled by this--they refuse to improve/fix certain things that are unrealistic:

1. Pitchers able to pitch on 3-day rest.
2. Lack of reasonable fatigue system for relievers who pitch a lot over several games. (The super-reliever strategy wouldn't be an issue if relievers actually became ineffective when they pitch so much.)
3. A poor injury system.
4. A fast base runner being able to clear the bases with a triple. However, a slow base runner (or any hitter for that matter) can't clear the bases with a double without risk of an out.*
5. Runners unable to advance from second to third without risk on deep fly balls to right field.*
6. A pitcher for a visiting team forced into a save situation in a long extra-inning game being totally ineffective (F0). IMHO, the SOM save system itself is designed to force managers into realistic behavior for closing games much more than it reflects how much less effective a non-closing pitcher would be if they closed. And that's okay in a 9-inning game; it forces realistic results. However, it's just plain unfair to the visiting team in those long extra-inning games.

* The chance isn't zero, but it is rare--far less chance than it should be.

Back to your original point, it would be so easy for the game to allow a *-pitcher to pitch on 3-day rest but let him start at say F4 with a reduced pitch count available before further fatigue. Or base his 3-day-rest-start F-rating based on how many innings he pitched the previous game.

I think the logic on still having * pitchers is that while a pitcher with 35 starts and 220 innings did not actually pitch regularly every 4th day he probably could have. That is part of the strat experience. Taking the cards and managing them differently than they were to get better results.

Now having said that I think that from the beginning the requirements for getting an * should have been a bit higher and should be higher today.

Another way to look at it is given the online game has no scheduled days off without the * the most starts any pitcher can get is 33. Does it really make sense to have a rule changed where a guy who started 35 can only start 33? Is that any more realistic than allowing him a few extra starts?

Of course there is the flip side of this. Some are calling for creation of a double ** rating that would allow the deadballers to pitch every 3 games.

Perhaps maintaining with the single * rating is an appropriate compromise between the two sides of that coin.