The National Federation of State High School Associations changed high school baseball this season after issuing a mandatory pitch-count policy effective nationwide. Though the need to adopt limits was sorely needed, the current limits need to be reconsidered if protecting arms is really a priority.
Colorado adopted a pitch-count rule in the 2016 season, but the rule became mandatory around the country beginning this season. It is up to the individual states to determine which threshold is right for them.
If you’ve been around youth baseball long enough, you know why pitch counts are important. Without limits, it wasn’t that uncommon to see a kid throw in both ends of a doubleheader or throw a complete game in a state playoff game before coming back on two days rest to do it again.
“Honestly, the way our schedule has always been, we never really had the issue other teams had where we were tempted to use one guy and ride him forever,” Durango head coach Eric Baker said.
“We do make sure we’re thinking about it and have enough pitchers. If you don’t have guts yourself, (the rule) forces you to throw some guys out there instead of leaning on just one or two aces.”
The end result of the unlimited free-for-all produced some eye – or elbow – popping data that forced a change.
A 2014 study by the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine found that a whopping 57 percent of Tommy John procedures from 2007 to 2011 were performed on 15- to 19-year-old arms. The procedure, named after former Major League pitcher Tommy John, repairs an elbow’s ulnar collateral ligament.
We can argue about the many reasons why arm injuries are more common now than they were in generations past until we’re blue in the face. It doesn’t matter whether it’s too many curveballs, too much summer ball, too much fall ball, poor mechanics, too much throwing on off days or whatever – with those numbers, rules were desperately needed.
The good news is, something was done. The bad news is, the limits most states have settled on make the changes counterproductive.
The first head-scratcher is the pitch limit itself. The maximum number of pitches per game in Colorado is 110. Ohio and Washington set the maximum at 125, with only three days of rest required to come back and do it again. Eight other states set the limit at 120. These numbers are quite high for high school-aged players when you consider the output of the top-conditioned arms on the planet.
Heading into Friday’s action, MLB pitchers have made 361 starts this season. Only five of the 361 starts have seen pitchers throw more than 110 pitches. Only 1.4 percent of Major League starters have been pushed to the high school limit. That alone suggests that the limit for the much weaker teenage arms and bodies is way too high.
Last season, San Francisco Giants ultra-durable ace Madison Bumgarner started 36 games and threw more pitches than anyone in the majors. Interestingly, the lefty exceeded the Colorado High School pitch limit only 10 times and didn’t get to 120 all season. 125? No chance. In the 10 starts of over 110 pitches, six of them came off five days’ rest or before an upcoming stretch of five rest days – which presents a nice segue into the next issue.
The Colorado High School Activities Association’s minimum mandatory rest period for a pitcher who throws more than 85 pitches is three days. This means pitchers can throw 110 pitches on Tuesday and get on the mound for another 110 Saturday. The rules also allow a pitcher that throws 85 or less pitches to return on two days’ rest. That’s a striking contrast to other industry recommendations.
The American Sports Medicine Institute recommends four days of rest for any pitcher who throws at least 75 pitches. Major League Baseball’s Pitch Smart recommendations, adopted by USA Baseball, Cal Ripken League, American Legion and several other organizations, also suggests a 75-pitch/four-day rest period. High schools in Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland and Missouri follow the stricter and more sensible MLB Pitch Smart limits that include a pitch count of 105 per outing and more rest between starts.
Nowadays, big leaguers throw on three days’ rest only in desperate situations, and, even then, it’s risky. The shorthanded Cleveland Indians had a 3-1 series lead on the Chicago Cubs in the 2016 World Series and had to go with starters on short rest in the last three games. They lost the Series 4-3.
I was hoping to find that high school coaches are adopting a similar policy of using a pitcher only on three days’ rest and only stretching the pitcher to the limits when the season is on the line, but that doesn’t appear to be the case.
Green Mountain High School ace Matthew Ramirez is the leader in Class 4A with a 0.32 earned-run average. According to the team’s MaxPreps.com page, Ramirez threw 80 pitches in an 18-0 win April 6 against Aurora Central. He came back on three days’ rest to throw 107 pitches in a 7-1 win April 10 against Golden.
That’s a lot of work for anyone on three days’ rest.
On that Indians team, Corey Kluber threw on three days’ rest three times in the 2016 postseason. He couldn’t make it to 90 pitches in any of those starts. Teammate Trevor Bauer pitched twice on short rest. He threw 74 pitches the first time and just nine the second, as he didn’t make it out of the first inning. Josh Tomlin didn’t make it past 50 pitches in his short-rest start.
Compare those numbers to recent outings from Montrose’s Jayden Lopez, and it’s confusing to see who the Major League arms are. The team’s MaxPreps page indicates Lopez threw 84 pitches March 29 against Eagle Valley and came back to throw 109 pitches on two days’ rest in an April 1 win against Glenwood Springs. One hundred and ninety-three pitches in four days is excessive – but it’s well within the rules many states have settled on.
The coaches surely aren’t to blame. They are simply following the guidelines drawn out for them by people who are supposed to know better, while pitchers all over the state, such as Lopez and Ramirez, just want to keep mowing guys down until the final out is in the books – and that’s the problem.
“It’s tough for us coaches and something we have to keep constant track of,” Bayfield head coach Danny Petrie said. “We have a small squad and now we have to plan days ahead.”
Coaches and players are being told that the limits were set where they’re set to protect the arms. They’re just trying to win games and stay within the required limits. When kids are able to throw more than 100 pitches two days after throwing 84 and the rules support that kind of workload, it becomes counterproductive.
Other issues need to be addressed as well. One issue to consider is how to regulate days of rest when some pitchers play the field and throw the ball around the diamond every day in between 110-pitch starts on three days’ rest. Another potential problem is the rule that the pitcher’s team is responsible for keeping the pitch count. Durango High School recently had an incident where coaches felt the other team’s math wasn’t quite adding up.
What does add up is the idea that changes needed to be made. The need for enforcement was clear and the ball is rolling. Hopefully down the road, the limits will lean more toward the American Sports Medicine Institute and MLB Pitch Count recommendations and set with a clear intent to protect high school pitchers – until they head off to throw another full season of innings in summer league.
Sports editor John Livingston contributed to this report.
Joe Fries is a sports writer at The Durango Herald. He can be reached at jfries@durangoherald.com. Following him on Twitter @The7thFreezer.
