College Pitching Restrictions

quote:

I am abit concerned about my son pitching too much.

Probably with good reason. I'm guessing a postion player or four are going to get some mound time.

Big,

He's from WI, he's still fresh and probably only needs a day or two between starts. A couple hundred innings before June should get him ready for summer ball

Where's G going to school?

RZ you have a PM

Is the answer NO to BigWI's question regarding pitching restriction in college? I also wondered about this.

RHP05 ...

Yes, the answer is NO. And this is cause for concern among many ... especially parents. Lots of discussions and debates have taken place over the years about the impact it has, or may have, on the pitchers' arms.

Boyd's World keeps a weekly tally during the season of the pitchers with high pitch counts for the week. It is interesting to follow, as some folks will get an idea of which schools seem to "push" their pitchers into long outings with lots of pitches thrown. Towards the end of the seasons, when a school is in the running for play-offs, you may see some extended outings which may not be the norm for a school's pitchers. But it is interesting, and you can check the numbers (and a lot of other intersting information about college programs) by going to his site:

Boyd's World

As in MLB there is no rules on innings in college.

I feel there is no need for such a rule as the staffs are normally large enough and the players are old enough to speak up if the arm is aching.

Big WI--if the coach is smart he will be using position players on the ound to eat up innings when ever he can

In high school he piched 14 innings per week, every week.

I was looking forward to college when he would only pitch onces a week and get the proper amount of rest.

The coach is a former Bullpen catcher for the Brewers, hopefully he has the knowledge to give the pitchers enough rest.

TR is rite, the players are old enough to speak up if the arm is aching, but...

4 Pitchers aren't enough to get them through a week, much less a season.
Over-use won't necessarily cause the arm to hurt before the damage is done.
The desire to win will push the limits of common sense.
At 14 innings a week every week, you son is already used to being over-used.
Unless you happen to work at a Hospital and have all your medical expenses covered, elbow or shoulder surgerie will cause you to hit your maximum out-of-pocket dollar amount.

The best thing you can do is to help educate your son and agree on some acceptable limits in advance.

Yes the players are old enough to speak up, and they should.

However, my concern is that my son (and others) will feel the pressure to play through it because there is no one else to pitch. I know they should be smarter then that but I also know anyone who is competitive will not want to "let the team down". I know I have to make sure he is smarter then that.

The other issue is, he never had pain in HS, his Arm would just go dead where he had no speed or control.

I am also hoping that at some of the position players also pitched in HS and can take some of the load.

I know that I am being an overly concerned Dad, and have to trust that 1) the coach is professional enough not to hurt his players, 2) my son is smart enough not to let it happen, but I am a dad and my job is to worry.

I was just curious if there were any restrictions I needed to know about.