HS pitching a complete game

Yes, why should a pitcher w low pitch count not stay in?. Some HS play 4 games a wk, time for closer to come in another game if needed. Not true pitchers always sore after pitching complete game. You can be sore next day if u pitch 4 innings too. 

My son has thrown complete games in all but one game this season.  I think pitch count, watching for fatigue are more important than innings.  

I agree with these guys.  Overall, the important things to look for are number of pitches thrown, effort vs smooth mechanics and change in velocity.  Once you start seeing just one of those appear then you need to get someone up in the bullpen.

My son threw complete games around 7 of the 9 starts I think this year....base on where he was on pitch count.....he has a pretty good workout routine...was not sore very often afterward at all.....I think complete games from the staffs 1&2 guys are very much the norm

Winning teams have lots of complete games.  Losing teams do not.

LABall, My pitcher threw a CG yesterday and threw 86 pitches, he threw one last week that was 84.  Explain to me why this is unhealthy?

Pitch count is a valid criteria (and not the only one) for gauging when a pitcher may need to come out of a game... Innings mean nothing.  Soylent Grunt threw 121 pitches over 6 innings in a game this year... and didn't finish.  He also pitched 3 complete games at under 100 pitches each.  Not following the premise of the OP.  I don't know if throwing CGs are the norm in HS, but definitely not uncommon.

For son's HS team a complete game is the norm with our head coach.  Seems if we are facing the other team's 1 or 2 they almost always go the distance as well.  Right or wrong that is what I see. 

Complete game provided innings are relatively "easy" innings are no problem.  Innings, or pitch counts are not really the indicator on whether a pitcher is fatigued, and needing to be removed.  Sure, I get the obvious crazy 191 pitches, but for the 100 - 120 pitch count, over the course of 7 innings of "non-labored" work, no problem.

BFS Jr. always racks up a lot of K's...great stat, but that equals higher pitch counts.  This past weekend, he pitched in a playoff game where the temp. was 90 degrees, with high humidity.  He had 3 consecutive innings where the opposing pitcher recorded 3 up 3 down innings in 12 pitches or LESS....geez how about taking a few pitches for your own pitcher!    His innings ranged between 15-20 pitches for those three innings, and obviously he had very little time between innings.  By the 5th inning, he showed some fatigue, although his pitch count, and innings pitched was low....time to get the bullpen going!

You can't just judge a pitcher based on innings, and pitch count alone.

Yes number of pitches is a better indicator than number of innings as it relates to whether a pitcher is being looked after for health and longevity reasons.  But to say its just the number of pitches that matters is also just skimming the surface when it comes to maintaining health.  Its when those pitches are being made that matters, what part of the season are they in, weather issues….it’s more than just the number of pitches. 

To say a pitcher is being looked out for because they pitched a complete 90 pitch game might not be accurate.  There are so many layers to the healthy pitching arm issues going on and I think this is one of them.  If a pitcher throws 90-100 pitch complete game in HS and you are at the beginning of your season, this might not be healthy.  90-100 pitches mid to late season after pitch counts were built up over time with the proper rest in between, healthy.  If a pitcher throws a 90-100 pitch complete game and you’re playing in the Midwest where the temps are 38 degrees and there is a long offensive inning or two and the pitcher is sitting for 20 minutes during a couple innings, not healthy.  If a pitcher throws a 90-100 pitch complete game and he throws 35 of those pitches in the 5th and because he got in trouble and had to pitch out of it, they were stressful and taxing type pitches and then the pitcher goes back out to pitch another two innings, may not be healthy.  If a pitcher throws 90-100 pitch complete game a day after or two days after having a relief appearance to finish a game where they threw 30 pitches, it is not healthy .   An 80 pitch count for one body type, maturity of that body, where they are at in terms of growth, where they are at terms of mechanics is not the same for another throwing 80 pitches, so pitch count isn’t the total story in these terms either. 

Yes pitch counts are a better indicator than innings in regards to watching out for the health of a pitcher.  But pitch counts alone do not tell the entire story and should not be relied on alone to assess if an arm is being looked out for appropriately.  Look deeper than the pitch count or a number if you really want to ensure health.

Originally Posted by JCG:

Winning teams have lots of complete games.  Losing teams do not.

We’re 21-4, ranked 59^th in the country, 7^th in the state, outscored our opponents 208 to 46, have 3 pitchers with 6 wins, and have 4 complete games total.

My son's team is 18-5....I think we've thrown a complete game in 15 of the 23 games we've played.  5 different guys have thrown complete games....nobody more than 4.  4 or 5 of the 18 wins have been 5 inning run-rule games...so that helps out...with one perfect game...15 batters...less than 60 pitches.

During my son's senior year the varsity had only 5 games (out of a 20 game season + 6 playoff games) where the starting pitcher pitched a complete game.  Four were by our ace - one was a perfect game that was also only 5 innings and one no hitter.  Two of the complete games were late in the regular season - one against a very weak team.  The other was the no hitter against a district rival whom we were battling for the district lead.  Our ace had good command that day and his pitch count was under 100 pitches for the day.

We only had 3 pitchers in the rotation with a couple of "emergency" pitchers coach could put out there if he really needed to.  Fortunately he never had to.