Anything to get a scrimmage in?

I can't really shed a tear for you since we are being hit with between 4 - 7 inches of snow as I type....

Our season starts 4/2 and our first proposed scrimmage is 3/12

I was hoping to get outside this weekend... guess not

CaDad...so he'll throw 2 games in 3 days?? Winning must be very important to put your son in that position. Good Luck!

Ahhhh! We have our first DH this weekend. Should be around 50 degrees and sunny.

CADad, Why would you throw your son that much this early in the season?

CaDad protect your sons arm at all cost. I have read your previous post and you seem to be a good baseball guy. Please protect your young mans arm. No one is going to care how good he was in pony league or how many games he won when he gets to HS. My son is a 15yr old Freshman and started our first varsity game Tuesday behind the plate. For the first time in his life he is experienceing some arm fatigue. Why? Well in HS you practice everyday and Saturdays. Six days a week throwing running etc. I counted up how many throws he made on Tuesday game day. He warmed up in the outfield with the starting pitcher so I wont count those throws. Then he went to the pen and the pitcher threw about 35 pitches. So he threw back 35 times. Then he caught 7 innings. We threw 102 pitches in the game. He made 102 throws. We had 8 warm up pitches between innings times 7 equals 56 throws. He threw down to second each innings 7 throws to second base. During the game he threw down to first behind a runner and third behind a runner two throws. During infield he threw down to third 2 times second 4 times and first 2 times 8 throws. So lets see that was 193 throws back to the pitcher. 11 throws to second base. 3 throws to third and 3 throws to first. A total of 210 throws not counting what he threw warming up in the outfield before the game. Back to practice on Weds. I think sometimes we have to write it down and then we see how much our kids actually throw. Protect his arm. I made sure that he got on the bands and ran after the game and did his stretching. And then I monitored him on weds and thurs. We play today and he will be right back at it. Be carefull please and write it down so you can actually see it on paper. I understand that throwing the ball back to the pitcher does not have the same amount of stress on the arm as a pitcher making a game pitch. But he does not lob the ball back. He pops it back like it supposed to be done. Its still alot of throws.

2 innings on Saturday, about a 40 pitch limit and up to 3 on Sunday depending on how his arm feels followed by rest or light throwing until next Thursday when he'll throw another light bullpen and then 2 innings a week from Sunday. He's been throwing regularly and threw a short bullpen last night after 3 days of rest from a longer bullpen. He's gotten a lot of rest since our last tournament when he threw 4 innings in two days. Winning isn't the issue as I really don't want us to reach the championship game as we wouldn't have any pitching left. I just want to get my team a couple games in over the weekend.

Coach May,
I remember the arm fatigue from HS quite well. I threw a lot of BP and also played 1b so I was making a throw on every ground ball when we took infield practice.

CaDad...IMHO still too much, too often. Just my opinion, but I do have some experience in this regard. After 40 pitches he is fatigued a little...he can come back in your eyes maybe or his, but the arm suffers no matter how you slice it.

If winning is not the goal, then let him get his 3-4 innings of work and be done with it.
I agree with Coach May...protect his arm.

Obviously, you want to protect a kid and his arm, but the question also becomes, "for what"? There was a similar thread a year of two ago in regard to LL pitchers and curve balls. If you have a kid who is clearly a stud with a great future, I totally agree, although I have seen kids who could have been great pitchers never get the chance to pitch in hs because they had never pitched enough to learn how to pitch. I have seen kids save their arms and not be good enough ever to pitch in hs based on talent alone. I have seen kids hurt their arms to the point where they could not pitch later. I have seen kids throw and throw and throw and remain great through hs and beyond. And I have seen kids who threw a lot young, had a great time and then saw the competition pass them by. I don't believe it's that big of a deal what CADad did with his son. And if the arm begins to hurt -- even a little -- he can stop. Most here will disagree, I am sure, but I'm pretty confident in my point of view.

Two innings or 40 pitches whichever comes first. He typically can do that and still come back the next day as long as we don't try to throw him more than about 3 innings.

I'll go a couple innings with a pitcher as long as he isn't struggling and then bring him back the next day.

What I won't do is go three innings one day and then bring them back the next day to throw 1 or 2 innings.

Typically, 2 innings should be about 30 to 35 pitches so it really doesn't put too much stress on the arm.

I've never seen a tournament team that didn't do something similar except the ones that throw kids far longer.

We're talking about a 13yo going a total of 5 innings. That is not a big deal and breaking it up this way is a bit easier on the arm than doing it in one day, especially when you consider that they won't throw the second day if they are hurting.

Threw closer to 50 pitches on Saturday as our starter had to be pulled in the second with bases loaded, no outs and several runs already in. Warmed up during Sunday morning's game and said he was OK. I watched him making the throw from 3rd and he was taking it easy on his arm so I figured his arm was tired at the least. Didn't use him on the mound on Sunday despite an umpire with a much looser strike zone.

the tournament was a success with no rain, and a 3 inning pitch max even in the championship

Small world isn't it? The tournament was a success for our kids as they all got a fair amount of playing time, exposure to a pretty good level of ball and played better in each game as we went along.

4 Days later and we still have the same story..... We are being hit with between 4 - 7 inches of snow tonight!!!

Great to hear you guys had sucessful scrimages!