In an effort to stem the alarming increase in elbow and shoulder injuries among young baseball pitchers, Little League Baseball adopted important new rules in 2007 to limit the number of pitches a pitcher can throw in a game and how much rest he must take pitching appearances.
In its continuing effort to protect the health and safety of youth pitchers, and to reflect the latest research on pitching injuries, Little League made additional changes in its rules which went into effect for the spring 2010 season and beyond.
Revised pitch count limits for 2011 and beyond
| League Age | Pitches Allowed Per Day |
| 17-18 | 105 |
| 13 - 16 | 95 |
| 11-12 | 85 |
| 9 - 10 |
75 |
| 7 - 8 |
50 [Note: this is a change from the 2007 rules, which lumped all pitchers 10 and under together so as to allow even the youngest pitchers to throw 75 pitches in a day] |
Enforcement
To ensure that pitching rules are strictly followed, Little League now imposes a number of other strict requirements:
- Each league must designate a scorekeeper or official to track pitch counts as the official pitch-count recorder.
- The pitch count recorder must provide the current pitch count for any pitcher when requested by either manager or any umpire, and notify the umpire-in-chief when a pitcher has reached the pitch limit, who will, in turn, notify the pitcher's manager that the pitcher must be removed.
- Failure of the pitch count recorder to notify the umpire-in-chief, and/or the failure of the umpire-in-chief to notify the manager does not relief the manager of his/her responsibility to remove the pitcher when that pitcher is no longer eligible to pitch.
- Violation of the rule can result in a protest of the game in which it occurs.
New rules on rest periods
In general, the new rules add extra days for pitchers regardless of age and lower the threshold for pitches triggering extra days off between taking the mound. The old rules set different rules for pitchers league age 16 and under and league age 17 and 18. The new rules establish different rules for pitchers league age 14 and under and league age 15 to 18. Reflecting new research findings about the risk of injury to pitches who throw the most pitches, the new rules require a fourth day of rest - not required for a pitcher of any age at any pitch count under the old rules - for pitchers throwing 66 pitches or more for younger pitchers (7 to 14) and 76 pitches or more for older pitchers (15 to 18).
Rest requirements: Pitchers league ages 7 to 14
| Number of pitches in a day | Number of Calendar Days of Rest before Pitching Again |
|
66 or more
|
4 |
|
51 to 65
|
3 |
|
36 to 50
|
2 |
|
21 to 35
|
1 |
|
1 to 20
|
No day of rest required. |
Rest requirements: Pitchers league ages 15 to 18
| Number of pitches in a day | Number of Calendar Days of Rest before Pitching Again |
|
76 or more
|
4 |
|
61 to 75
|
3 |
|
46 to 60
|
2 |
|
31 to 45
|
1 |
|
1 to 30
|
No day of rest required. |
Other important rules
- Pitcher to catcher ban: any pitcher who delivers 41 or more pitches in a game may not go behind the plate to play catcher for the remainder of the day. [Remember: once a pitcher is removed from the mound, he can only return to the mound in Little League's Junior, Senior and Big League Divisions only; except in the Big League Division, a player may not pitch in one more than one game in a day; in the Big League Division, a player may be used as a pitcher in up to two games in a day]. [Note: a 2010 study appears to support this new rule, finding that playing catcher appeared to double or triple a pitcher's risk of injury, although the small number of injured players studied prevented a finding that the risk was significantly significant].
- Minor league pitching: Players over age 12 may not pitch in Minors division games
- Multiple games: Players may not pitch in more than one game in a day
- Pitches in suspended/regulation tie games charged against pitcher's eligibility. If suspended games are resumed on another day, pitchers of record at time game was suspended will be allowed to pitch to the extent of their eligibility for that day if they have rested the proper amount of days.
- Completion of pitching to batter: In a new ruling for 2010, if a pitcher reaches the pitch-count limit for their age while facing a batter, the pitcher may continue to throw until the batter reaches bas, is thrown out, or the third out is made to complete the half-inning.
Limits are working
According to a 2011 study by researchers at the University of North Carolina commissioned by Little League, its pitch count program appears to be working, reducing the risk of shoulder injury among pitchers in Little League Baseball (ages 8 to 13) by 50 percent.
Source: Little League Baseball
Updated and revised February 7, 2012
This is not a good thing.
This is not a good thing. These updates will lead to longer games, higher scores and an overall poorer level of play. A little league team of 12 players will have to have at least 10 of it's players who can pitch. Many weekend tournaments consist of multiple games in one day. Kids who are not very good pitchers will be forced to pitch, which means you'll have more walks, more hits and more runs.
No, I don't want the days when one or two kids pitch entire tournaments, but these restrictions are silly. An 18 year old high school senior can only throw 105 pitches a day? In a 7 inning complete game, that's only 15 pitches an inning? Then, they have to wait 4 days before they can pitch again?
I look at this the other way. We have more arm injuries now because our kids don't condition themselves to throwing. You don't run a marathon in one day. You build up to it. Pitching's the same way. You build up pitches and innings early in the season. But that should be a coaches decision, not a nationwide governing body.
John Dee is way off base
What if you're wrong John. Are you willing to risk the health and future of any of your athletes because you think coaches are the best trained persons to make decisions on the health of an adolescent throwing athlete. I think it would be best to follow the rules and guidelines set forth by professionals such as Dr. James Andrews, rather than leaving it up to coaches like yourself. You are focused too much on the competitive advantages of a smaller pitching rotation, than on the long term health of your athletes.
I don't think we can take that chance, I would rather get my medical advice from Dr. Andrews than John Dee.
Mr. Coutu, you are
Mr. Coutu, you are absolutely correct, you should take the medical advice from Dr. Andrews instead of some hack like myself. However, let me explain. Don't know your age, but if you followed baseball back in the 1950's, 1960's, 1970's, there were 4 man pitching rotations, pitchers threw 200-250+ innings per season. They threw 7+ innings, complete games were common.
Move forward to 2010. We have 20-25 year old pitchers who can't throw 80+ pitches in a major league game, pitchers rarely go 6 innings anymore. Yet, we supposedly have bigger, stronger athletes who have better nutrition, better coaches, doctors, etc.
So what happened? MY opinion ( and these are message boards) is we've hurt our youth pitchers through pitch counts and limited innings. Kids never get a chance to build up their arms anymore. Once a pitcher gets to 60-70 pitches you have to think about taking them out. These days, that could be the 3rd inning! To use another example, what if we only let track sprinters practice sprinting 10 minutes per day, every 3rd day. What would happen? They would pull hamstrings or other muscles when the meets came around. You have to train properly to achive maximum performance.
When you get a chance, google Nolan Ryan and his philosophy of grooming pitchers today, an interesting concept!
Excellent Article
This is by far one of the best re-caps I have read--thank you (once again) MomsTeam. I am enjoying the comments and have no idea what side I fall on. Would like to hear someone from MomsTeam weigh-in.
Can 6 year olds pitch?
Our league has allowed 6 years to play A division - the first half of the season the coaches pitch the second half the kids pitch. I don't see anywhere what the pitch count limits are for 6 year olds. Does that mean that Little League doesn't think that 6 year olds should pitch (which I would strongly support).
I agree with John
Just got back from my sons little league game, we tied. First non loss in 2 years for this team. So let's talk pitch count, back in the 80's when I played ball it was 10 innings in 72 hours, seemed to work pretty good for us. We produced pitchers like Ron Reed, Nolan Ryan, Goose Gossage, Bruce Sutter, etc. etc. All I'm sayin is if you want to stop the arm injuries, the stop kids that are 10, 11, and 12 years old from throwing curve balls so young. Saw kids at this game tonight throwing some real good benders, they'll throw them for about the next 4 ot 5 years then end up like Mark Pryor (remember him Cub Fans). Thanks for listening.
Too Many Pitches, Not Curveballs Cause Overuse Injuries
It's more complicated that a straight count
Anyone who takes this pitch count research seriously should a) not assume every pitcher can safely reach the daily maximum or b) only needs the number of rest days mandated. One of the main complications is the number of pitches per inning. A pitcher who does get by with only 12-15 per inning can go deeper in pitch count than someone who pitches 25-30 during one tough inning. That might shave an additional 20 or more of his safe count for that day/game. For more on this, see the series done by Ron Wolforth that's posted on WebBall starting at http://www.webball.com/cms/page7198.cfm
Pitch Counts Not the Answer?
I think what's lost on this
I think what's lost on this is this constant insistance that we have to make changes. Boiled down to the root, if a kid's arm hurts, it's the kid (or the parents) responsibility to tell the coach. Yes, there may be a few coaches who don't heed these warnings. But on the whole, coaches are coaching because they love the game and love the kids and wouldn't do anything to jeopardize their health.
We continue to come up with pitching rules, pitch counts, rest days, position restrictions. Then you have to have someone track all this stuff. And we wonder why no one wants to coach anymore?
I'm on the fence on curveballs. I don't think a kid should use a curveball as an exclusive pitch. Maybe a one or two an inning. I think a great pitch for a youngster is the changeup. Thrown properly, it's as effective as a curve and does no arm damage, becasue it's thrown the same as a fastball, just the grip is different.
Don't trust parents
In response to John Dee, I have to tell you that I would never make it the kid's or parent's responsibility for the simple reason is that I have met too many kids willing to hide the hurt and too many parents willing to dole out painkillers so their kid can be a star. It is only coaches who have a longer term view who understand the risks.
That said, it is usually the scorekeeper or an assistant who track pitch count and reports to the coach, so it should not be a burden on him or anyone.
On the curveball issue, when two of the principles in the ASMI can't agree , it's tough for the rest of us. I've talked to Glenn about this and other subjects over the years, and consulted with many others who have contributed articles to sites like this one (and my own) and I think it all comes down to experience and ability. No pitch is unsafe if taught correctly and monitored properly. On the other hand, every pitch is unsafe if the mechanics are flawed.
Pitch Count is the answer
I somewhat agree with Richard. You cannot always trust the parents. What you have to do BEFORE the season starts is establish a rapport with your players and the parents. You need them to know that the purpose of the game is to win and have fun doing it. But, you will not do this at the risk of injuring a player. What most of the comments fail to realize is that 20 years ago, we didn't have all the travel teams, pitching coaches, and clinics. And how many coaches were actually counting the pitches when pitchers were limited to innings? By limiting the pitches, I truly believe we have reduced injury. I have players on my team that I ask what their pitching schedule was like, PRIOR to the week of play. If they have pitched for their travel or high school team, or thrown an excessive amount of pitches with their pitching coach, I will not pitch them in the 1st game of the week. I will then work with them in the 2nd game and determine the pitch count. Is it tough being a coach, absolutely. I wouldn't have it any other way. We are now not only coaching, we are managing a ballgame. As far as tournaments, we are in the middle of one now. We have 2 very good pitchers and a bullpen of "okay" pitchers. We managed them and are now 2-1 and the number 1 seed in the final day of play.
You want to prevent injury? Teach your pitcher pitch placement. Then velocity. Then some junk. If you teach them control and the philosphy of pitching and you teach your catcher the same, you can go fairly deep in a game. My son is now 15 years old. He is the number 1 pitcher in the league and one of the top pitchers in his high school. He does it with pitch placement.
As a coach of 15 years, I have seen it all. Bad coaching and parents who make decisions for their child. When it is all said and done, you have to know your players. You have to be able to distinguish between a player complaining about pain, or just doesn't want to pitch because he/she is getting their butt kicked. Don't risk injury to feed your ego. Don't show one ounce of regret in front of your player if you have to remove them from the game because they say they are hurting. If you do, the next time they are hurting, they will not tell you.
Lastly, I was the "great" pitcher when I was 9 or so. I had a curve that was nothing like players in my league had ever seen. I had a big brother that worked constantly with me. What we didn't know, was "how" to throw it. All my coaches knew was that it was striking kids out. For 6 years, I was the go to pitcher. Then I hit high school. Was that an eye opener. Everyone can hit a curve ball in high school. I became average, and quite frankly, not all that good. It was a couple of years later that my shoulder and elbow began to give me problems. I never had surgery, but at 47, I have a hard time lifting anything over my right shoulder. I can still throw, but the elbow hurts for days afterward. Was it the curveball, or was it the hundreds of pitches I threw every week? I don't know.
Thank you for letting me ramble.
A spirited discussion and a valuable one
This has been a tremendous
This has been a tremendous back and forth. Great post by Mr. Bannister, I think at age 47, with your pitching background, if you didn't have some arm and shoulder issues, something is wrong.
So do we put the brakes on everyone pitching more than 2 innings a game at age 12 because they are going to have some shoulder pain when they are in their mid 40's??
How do we get there? I think you have to allow kids to throw MORE. We are all about limiting, limiting, limiting. Some kids can run 10 miles a day and not feel any affects of it. Some kids would run 10 miles and not be able to get out of bed the next day. Why do we insist on one size fits all??
If a kid is 12, and he can't throw more than 50 pitches without his arm hurting, he's not a pitcher. He's an outfields, 3rd baseman, etc. Instead, we force a kid who can throw more off the mound and force another who can't throw as much on the mound because we only have 11 players on the team and 8 have to be pitchers???
As Mr. Bannister says, know your players!
Awesome discussion
After reading many parts of this discussion, I would like to add another thought. I am currently 46 years old and still playing adult league baseball. I have 3 sons and I have coached all 3 from tee ball, minor league, little league, senior league and major league(17-19). I personally feel that pitch counts are a great thing and limiting curve balls at young age (12 or under) is a preferred strategy. We talk a lot about allowing kids to pitch longer in games but what about throwing when they are not playing games. When I was young(10-15) I was the go to guy for pitching. At 12 years old I was 5'8" and could throw the ball by most hitters. I never threw curve balls. I continued this thru 13-16 but added the curve ball and when I went to high school and college played shortstop so I could play everyday. However, in 10-14 age playing years, I used to go in the backyard on days when there were no games and hang a mitt on a fence, pace off the distance and pretend to be Nolan Ryan. I would copy his pitching form and throw to that glove for a good hour with just straight fastballs at about 50-70 percent. While I can't say I never had a sore shoulder, I can say I never had an injury. I have always taught my players that if you want to pitch more than the pitch count allows, do it at home and practice mechanics and location and when the pitch count is no longer an issue, you will be ready.
As for the curve ball, the most my arm ever hurt was actually my elbow when during an all-star game at 15 years old I was having trouble throwing strikes with my fastball and pitched all curve balls from the 2nd thru 8 innings. I never felt so much pain in my elbow/arm as I did after that outing. It took me over a week to recover and I NEVER thru that many curve balls again. It had a big influence on me as I have coached kids thru my adult life and teach proper mechanics, pitch to spots and limit the curveballs to situations they are needed. The change up has become a highly taught pitch. I hope I've added some food for thought to an excellent ongoing discussion.
John Dee's Comments about Pitch Counts
I was just reading up on recommended pitch count information and came accross John Dee's comments and other recommendations. I have heard John Dee's argument about how "back in the good ole days" pitchers went complete games and today pitchers can't even go 7 innings. That kind of argument cannot be made. It's not that pitchers "can't" pitch complete games, it's that coaches and teams won't let them go past pitch counts. I did not research average salaries "back in the day" but teams weren't investing millions of dollars on one player. And, since they are paying several pitchers on the roster, why not use them. I would bet that many of those pitchers years ago lost conciderable velocity over time, and who knows how long many of their careers were.
The bottom line is that you can't compare hitters and pitchers from completely different generations. How many pitchers threw 98-100 mph back in the 60's? In this year's all star game alone there were at least 4 pitchers that did that and Strausberg wasn't even there. And the salaries and money that players and owners make aren't even in the same ballpark.
Take care of the young pitchers arms. Take it from a guy who struggled with arm problems my entire high school and college career. Better safe than sorry.
Ok, so because we are paying
Ok, so because we are paying them millions of dollars, we care more about pitcher's arms now? That does not track. I respectifully disagree.
Some guys have arm trouble, there's no disputing that. But there are also guys who can throw day after day and not have a sore arm. Why do we pose this arbitrary one fits all pitch count?
Also on another point, these young guns who throw 95-100 MPH will have to learn to be pitchers, not throwers. That's what will lengthen their career. Not holding down pitch counts. An effective fastball, spotted inside than out, can be as effective as a 98 MPH heater. Greg Maddox and Tom Glavine made careers of throwing in the mid-80's changing speeds.
Pitch Count regulations
I think Little League has taken the lead in protecting young kids. Parents are crazy and place winning and their own egos in front of the safety of the kids. I am glad that the study has been done and that their are objective standards. I have found another great site that writes for youth baseball players at retiretheside.com. This site seems to be very informative for parents and players.