Watched my son's 11U tournament yesterday and noticed the opposing team's pitcher experience obvious arm discomfort while on the mound. The kid was rubbing his arm and making comments that his arm hurt. The opposing coach ignored the situation. He was 0-3 for the weekend but was having some success in this game and obviously wanted the win. So, he never pulled the obviously suffering kid. Didn't count his pitches, but was likely around 100.
At the end of the day, my son and I talk about things we saw that day in the game(s). I told him about what I saw and that if is ever in a similar situation and he ever experiences arm pain while pitching and his coach refuses to pull him, he needs to stop throwing strikes and allow himself to get pulled for performance reasons instead. Thus, saving the arm for a future game, future team, future coach.
I now wonder if that was wise advise. Maybe throwing through pain is advisable. Maybe lots of pitchers experience pain while pitching. I personally would not leave an 11 year old kid on the mound if he's complaining of arm pain.
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