Infielders that pitch

IMO it's not a problem.

 

What age?  Is he doing both in same game?  Best position for P is OF when not pitching same game- for older kids.  There r some in HS  who pitch/catch in same game and IMO thats  harder on arm.  Playing IF  when not pitching is not going  to hurt arm persay but other positions are better. .  Everything in moderation

My son played 2B/P all through high school and travel ball, and two years of college ball - usually in the same games. Summer collegiate league he played mostly 3B/P. Things might change a little this year, though. He transferred from juco to D2, and this weekend in the intersquad games he pitched and DHed on Saturday and played SS and 3B on Sunday. So we'll see how they decide to use him. But it can certainly be done. Like so many, he had some issues in the younger years before the growth plates closed. If I knew then what I know now, we'd ahve been more careful. But once he got past that, he had no arm problems at all.

Mine plays 3b and pitcher in select and 1b\RF and Pitcher in HS. One of main pitchers on HS team so that may be why he is at 1b...less long throws i guess..although he still has to throw to the infielders to warm them up.  A down the line pitcher in select because his hitting has really come to the forefront.  As long as the player manages the reps I dont see an issue...and it keeps your options open.

My son has been a two way OF/P in HS (occasionally played SS when the SS closed) and college. I think the biggest question is not the game he is playing in, but specifically the game after he throws from the mound. 

 

I know I was a little worried when he started a game, threw 80+ pitches, then had to uncork a throw from the outfield in a game the day after. Since infielders will throw much more this could be a major concern. His current coaches are toying with the idea of using him as the Sunday starter on his college team this year. IHMO that could work (not that I really have an opinion).

My concern was the use of his arm.  I guess if he manages his throws during practice he should be fine. 

I think about this subject a lot.  I have two sons in high school, one a soph and one a senior.  The soph has always pitched and played third.  Pitching has always been primary, but I don't mind seeing him play some third, even in the same game.  He did it yesterday in a fall ball game in fact.  He's pretty good about taking care of his arm.

 

My real issue is the senior.  He's been a catcher for years.  Has never pitched in high school, but all of a sudden most of his college interest is coming as a pitcher.  He throws in the low 90's so needless to say, they think they like him on the mound more than behind the plate.  With one high school season to go, does he catch and maybe close games on the same day?  Start a game and not catch that day, but catch the other two games (on a M-W-F game week schedule)?  Trying to figure this out as I go. 

I would never have my catcher pitch the same day.  I have seen a catcher start one day on the mound and then the next behind the plate.  He just needs to make sure he does his running and icing.  In practice he will definitely need to limit his throws after his long toss.

My son played short and closed then center and closed in high school. Sometimes he came from his position mid inning. He always made sure he got in a bullpen between innings when he might pitch.

As an aside to this question - has anyone ever tracked the effectiveness of players that come in from playing a position to those who come in from the bullpen in the middle of an inning?

 

My son's coach ran things this way over the summer, and I expect he will probably the same for the fall:

 

He has a designated starter and long reliever for the game.  The long reliever does not play the field for that game.  He will also have in mind a short relief guy or two.  Those guys may be in the field.  If the long reliever isn't in after the fourth, he gets pushed to the next game starter slot, and the short guys finish the game.

 

Pitchers that went more than 40 pitches usually got the next day off if there was a game scheduled. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Haven't tracked it per se, but our experience was coming straight from 2B to the mound happened all the time in HS and it worked fine. In college so far, they've always taken him off the field and sent him to the bullpen the inning before they expected to need him on the mound.

In an ideal situation this might work... But what when he bats, gets a hit, and stays on base the entire the inning before he is thought to be pitching? This happened a bunch of times to my son last year. 

 

Sometimes it kept him out of the game he should have come into. Other times, it didn't...

If my son was due to hit he would be pinch hit or pinch run for then reenter the game. Soph year the coach asked my son to take the mound mid inning with no bullpen on a thirty degree day. My son looked at him like he was nuts. The coach got ticked. The coach didn't know pitching. What pitch counts?

This is another one of those questions that I’ve changed my stance on over the years. I used to believe all those throws for an IF’r were too much of a workload for a pitcher and that they’d be better off in the OF from a throwing standpoint. But when you actually look at all the throws an IF’r makes, how many are thrown at the same intensity as a pitch? Now look at the throws an OF’r makes, and I think you’ll see the same thing.

 

To tell the truth, other than the catcher, I don’t see it as a big deal. And for the catcher, it has nothing to do with the arm, but rather the legs. Its really tough to pitch with tired legs, and if you’ve never caught you have no idea how tired those legs can get! They’re fine to walk on and even run some, but pitching’s a completely different story.