I just thought of something else regarding the idea of having a player other than the person on the lineup taking the W/U pitches.
What if the pitcher has been struggling, and the coach is thinking about replacing the pitcher with another player. If he/she sends that player out to take warm-up pitches, he/she can then make a decision to make a pitching change or not.
I have seen something like this when the team only has one catchers helmet, so the team can not warm up a second pitcher.
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