pitch count

You might get away with it, you might not.

Some kids seem to be able to withstand higher pitch counts than others. The thing is that you won't know that you are NOT one of those kids until you come up with a hurt arm. Is it worth the risk? No.

A HS pitcher should not be throwing 112 pitches. That is running an increased risk of injury for no good reason.

Texan got it right. Just depends.

My son also a starter and freshman typically goes 95 for a complete game and has gone to 110 pitches once this year and I have no worries since he has been working out with the Jaeger long toss and band program since he was 12. He also regularly does the "throwers 10" from ASMI. After he throws he takes care of himself and does "decelerator" band work out and then does at least of 1/2 hour of cardio. If you take care of yourself and have worked up to it you should be fine. Would not do it all the time but once or twice in the season to close out a game no problem.

However if you have not built yourself up and are not taking care of yourself afterward for the load it certainly will add wear and tear on your arm.

Being in shape and doing all the right conditioning is no guarantee that a pitcher will be able to throw pitch counts that exceed what many pros are allowed.

quote:

Originally posted by Texan:
You might get away with it, you might not.

Some kids seem to be able to withstand higher pitch counts than others. The thing is that you won't know that you are NOT one of those kids until you come up with a hurt arm. Is it worth the risk? No.

A HS pitcher should not be throwing 112 pitches. That is running an increased risk of injury for no good reason.

rbraves2011,

Noone can say for sure whether throwing 112 pitches is ok for you. We don't know your strength and conditioning level, we don't know how mature your skeletal system is (do you still have open growth plates?), we don't know if you've been overused, we don't know if you just recovered from an injury, etc. No, there's just too much we don't know to be able to say much of anything. Except, as Texan said, that throwing that many pitches is a risk.

I'm 5'11'', still growing, Haven't had any major injuries on the arm, just tweeked my mechanics since after throwing for a bit there would be a lot of stress on my elbow and I have been doing long toss, bands, ice, and workouts after outings. I'm just worried that if I do this more times I'll throw my arm out and be in a jam when summer comes around.

quote:

Originally posted by rbraves2011:
I'm 5'11'', still growing, Haven't had any major injuries on the arm, just tweeked my mechanics since after throwing for a bit there would be a lot of stress on my elbow

This raises a lot of questions. Are your growth plates set? So, you've had "minor" injuries to your arm? Who tweaked your mechanics.. a qualified pitching coach? What stress on your elbow.. have you had elbow problems, too?

Bum, Jr. has done what BOF describes, doing the Jaeger long toss 5-6x weekly since age 12, the band work, the core work, the cardio and icing, the thrower's 10.. but the #1 reason he has stayed healthy, I believe, is his throwing mechanics. He has trained with very good pitching coaches, including a D1 pitching coach. So kid, get good pitching instruction, talk to your doctor and assess your arm, shoulder, and elbow, and do the work necessary to protect your arm.

As for pitch counts, I am not a huge pitch-count guy. I know when my son pitches I'll have 5 or 6 people constantly asking me, "What's his pitch count? What's his pitch count." Bum, Jr. is a high-strikeout pitcher (so far 30 in 12.2 innings pitched) and this naturally raises his pitch count. Last start he went 109. With me, I'm more concerned about successive high pitch-count games without adequate rest.

A young man with a pretty clean delivery and given his arm works well may not be at risk of arm injury at age 12,13,14.....it's high pitch counts (over 100) at 12, 13, 14 that add up and increase the risk of injury at 18-24 that would concern me.....there is no reason, in my mind, for any child under that 14-16 yr old age range to throw over 100 pitches in any given game.......in my judgement a child is not pitching real well if it takes over 100 pitches to complete 6-7 innings.....to me it says that the coach puts winning over development....doesn't want to go to the bullpen because he doesn't want to risk losing the game......risk not worth the reward......just my opinion......

I agree that is a lot of pitches and that a coach should never put winning a game over a kids health and development. My 14 yr. old pitches and went 5 innings - no earned runs, 93 pitches against one of the better teams in the state. We took him out due to pitch count even though he felt fine and wound up losing the game. That's just the way it goes.

However, I would not say you are not pitching good because of a high pitch count for a game. Glavine went around 90 in five innings the other night and only gave up one earned. I'd say that was a quality start. If you are trying to nip the corners against a good team, you can be off just a little and wind up throwing a lot of pitches. Errors can also lead to quite a few extra pitches.

I think some kids can throw more than others, but, the big factor is rest. 3-4 full days off from pitching is a must with a high pitch count.

There is no reason to be throwing this many pitches. The coach should be trying to develop pitchers and not just trying to win games. Especially as a freshman. My son does bands, cardio after pitching and I still worry. At this age you are still growing and growth plates have not fused. The University of Virginia coach starts looking for another pitcher at around 45 pitches and sticks to a rule that your age times the number of pitches you throw is all you throw for that year. Including summer. He has never had an arm injury in 20yrs so he in my opinion is doing something right and cares about his players. Be careful pitch counts are important and you won't know how it effects you until it is too late.

We have a kid on our high school team that threw 143 pitches in a game recently. He throws every other game and has thrown complete games each time. This is his highest pitch count so far, but has thrown over 100 multiple times.
Many of the pitchers from previous years that have gone on to play college ball are not pitching in college. Some have been put in other positions and are at least playing, whereas others have quit their teams in part due to injury.
Our coach has tons of kids that can pitch. Why rely on only two? What will happen come playoffs?

For me.....i want to focus on first pitch strikes....two of the first three pitches for strikes.....pitch to contact and try to have as many low pitch count innings as possible.....90 pitches in 5 is not making things happen early in the count....too many deep counts.......being aggressive with my stuff but trying to throw quality strikes......of course you pitch to the situation and it may result in some deep counts....but the focus is on low pitch count innings......10-15 pitches......it's going to get me deeper into games and save the bullpen at times......quality starts....6 IP, 2 R's or less....7, 8 or 9 IP 3 R's or less.....

deep counts lead to high pitch counts (obviously)...but that also leads to walks.....leads to long innings....defense will tend to play on heels which can lead to errors or misplays or non-plays (non-errors)....not getting to balls due to lack of concentration as a result of long innings because of deep counts.....

long innings and high pitch counts will happen....i just want to drive home the focusing on low pitch count innings.....pitch to contact.....in the long run it will benefit you....it may not now with the youth team that can't catch the ball but it will eventually help.....

Let me put it this way. Just the way I feel about the topic of pitch counts.

I work in baseball for a living. Tonight (if we get it in) my starter will throw no more than 5 innings and no more than 75-80 pitches (which ever comes first). He has been getting ready for the season since March 1st. He is 23 years old and will sit 89-91 mph. He will start approx. 20-25 times this season and will NEVER throw more than 110 in a game and will very rarely throw more than 100 in a game. He is 6'3" about 220 lbs and conditions himself very regularly.

I would be abusing him if he pitched more than stated above. If I can't, wouldn't, couldn't do it to him I'll be d@mned if I would do it to a child.

And please do not take the post in an angry, confrontational way. It is just my opinion that I feel very strongly about.....this is great site to share ideas.....I mostly visit and read regularly but do not post much anymore....great site...keep sharing ideas

quote:

.....pitch to contact.....

I just pitched again tonight, threw another complete game and threw around 110/ 120 pitches