How Many Pitches Are Too Many?

[Miller]

I read the following article by Richard Skinner in this mornings paper, but I can't understand why a coach would allow a kid to throw 162 pitches in one game, but 250 pitches in three days. Have the times changed and are folks no longer concerned about a kids arm? I know I'm getting older, but this really bothered me when I read it.

 

What say you?

 

Lawrence comes up big in extra innings for Simon Kenton

[Qryche11]

Felt the same way about it. Hope the Kid doesnt endure Long term damage.

[horst muhlmann]

Sean plays on my son's summer team and is a great kid. He has been a horse all season and I hope the extra inning game doesn't have any long term impact. Knowing how religiously he ices his arm, I'm confident it won't.

[The Penguin]

Sean plays on my son's summer team and is a great kid. He has been a horse all season and I hope the extra inning game doesn't have any long term impact. Knowing how religiously he ices his arm, I'm confident it won't.

Ice isn't going to help this one. Where was the adult in the equation that makes the responsible move of taking the kid out of the game? Come on. A kid's going to tell you he wants the ball.

[nostupidexcuses]

The crow bar mentioned should be used for something else, that's great he has never let a kid throw over 110 pitches, save a lot of kids arm in monitoring that, but the one kid he lets throw 280 or whatever in two days, may ruin his career, is it worth it? No way for me, but I am not in their dugout.

[Butterfingers]

I am sure reading the article there will be all kinds of thoughts on this. Its really about the kid and his limitations. If Lawrence was laboring, wincing on every pitch, or something like that Coach Roberts would have known to get him out. He knows he was a pitcher. Obviously none of that was happening.

One of you old timers on this site help me with the story of Newport Catholic in the early 60's. The pitcher went, I think, two games on consecutive days to win the state championship. He went on to the eventually the Majors I believe.

[I4C]

I have not and I will not ever jeopardize a kids arm or future for a Win.

[The Penguin]

Some of the old timers say that we are babying these kids with pitch counts. Maybe we are?

[Dingerbird]

They call the 130th pitch the 'Tommy John' pitch. What I have seen is next year the kid will have no increase in velocity and more than likely a decrease. As the ligaments stretch and are damaged there can be control issues. Some of us had been at the field while a pitcher is rolling through batters and grabs his elbow as says, "I heard a pop". Younger kids rip off or fracture the growth plate, catch it in time no need for screws and he can pitch again, the more mature players damage the ligament which leads to Tommy John.

[nostupidexcuses]

Some of the old timers say that we are babying these kids with pitch counts. Maybe we are?

 

Tell them to go listen to Dr. Kremcheck talk, I would think he knows what he is talking about, kids were not playing 60-70 games a summer when the old timers were playing and pitching 12 months out of the year either. This is a prime example of why the innings pitched should not be how Kentucky High School Athletic Association regulates pitch counts, why have a limitation if its based on innings, totally ridiculous. They should be more responsible for ruining kids arms than the coach.

[rjs4470]

Tell them to go listen to Dr. Kremcheck talk, I would think he knows what he is talking about, kids were not playing 60-70 games a summer when the old timers were playing and pitching 12 months out of the year either. This is a prime example of why the innings pitched should not be how Kentucky High School Athletic Association regulates pitch counts, why have a limitation if its based on innings, totally ridiculous. They should be more responsible for ruining kids arms than the coach.

 

Especially since a 3 pitch inning counts the same as a 50 pitch inning.

[The Penguin]

Baseball Shaving Cream TV Commercial - YouTube Is this where we are headed?

[gchs_uk9]

Some of the old timers say that we are babying these kids with pitch counts. Maybe we are?

 

I was having this conversation recently. The guy I was talking with suggested that with so many inning and pitch counts in place, do kids throw (or try to) harder, knowing that they'll only have to do it 100 times or for a certain number of innings. Perhaps the counts are putting an accidental undo strain on them because they are overdoing it in what limited time they have on the mound that day. I'm not sure I completely agree with him, but it was an interesting point.

[colonel-fan]

Over the weekend I watched a kid throw 113 pitches in a 13u game. I would say that is way too many.

[callwhatyousee]

Couple things that come to my mind. Lets say they have a 100 pitch count in a day. That doesn't count the 5 or 8 warm up pitches they are allowed each inning. So they could end up throwing 135-154 pitches and that is not counting warm up in the bull pen before the game. I had heard the Bellevue kid was throwing an hour before his game on Monday.

 

My other thought is, if the KHSAA starts to impose pitch counts who do you think is going to monitor this. That will become touchy. I also know several coaches that will be trying to work pitchers to get those numbers up on a kid if they think they have a better changes with the relief pitcher.