NC Insider: Pitch Counts and HS Baseball in 2017

January 17, 2017

Brandon Hall
Director of Scouting, PBR NC

In the upcoming weeks, as part of the spring preview, Prep Baseball Report of NC, will look into rules, policies, and possible advancements for High School baseball across North Carolina. As part of this process, PBR would love to hear feedback, thoughts, and plans from players, parents, coaches, and fans. These NC Insider pieces will be free to all NC baseball fans. As we roll into the spring, team previews and NC Insider pieces will be part of the PBR+ package.

Every year we see it, or hear about it… A pitcher in Somewhere, America threw a 185 pitch, complete game. At the same time battle lines are drawn between the camps of “He is a competitor” and “That coach ruined him”. As part of the reaction, pitch counts are coming and they are coming everywhere. The North Carolina Baseball Coaches Association (NCBCA) jumped ahead of the issue in working with the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA), to impose pitch count rules, which will be in effect beginning this spring. The pitch count rules for the regular season are as follows:

105 pitches (in game) is the daily max
1-30 pitches requires 0 days of rest to pitch again
31-45 pitches requires 1 day of rest to pitch again
45-60 pitches requires 2 days of rest to pitch again
61-75 pitches requires 3 days of rest to pitch again
More than 76 pitches requires 4 days of rest to pitch again

Coaches across the state are adjusting. The ability to track and report the pitch counts will remain a topic through the beginning of the spring. This will all be new… to the players, coaches, and fans. Some may not agree with the limits. Others may not agree with the rest required after throwing… The line had to be drawn somewhere and this is where it ended up for the 2017 season.

PBR touched base with the coaches from across NC shortly after the rule was implemented to get their reaction. Coaches were in favor of keeping young players healthy. Coaches were in agreement that their pitchers should be following rules for rest and recovery for the entire calendar year. Two-thirds of coaches felt the new regulations would have an effect on keeping NC pitchers healthy. The areas of concern for coaches seemed to be competitive balance and the reach of the rule past the HS season.

You can see the full article and survey of HS coaches in NC HERE…

PLAYER SAFETY

The intent of the rule is right. The thought from the governing board of high school baseball nationwide, the National Federation of High Schools (NFHS), is there are coaches who need help… who need the rule in place. The pitch count rule is not intended to reign in a majority of coaches, and may not be in place to reign in any coaches in NC, but it is needed for the outliers that put young pitchers in harm’s way. But the big question is will the implemented pitch count have an effect on the health of young pitchers…

When evaluating the health of amateur pitchers, pitch count is a factor. Other areas to consider are the length of the season, total number of innings / pitches in a year, number of stress pitches per outing and per year, amount of rest between outings, and amount of rest throughout the year. The pitch count rules implemented address one to two areas of concern. Players, parents, high school coaches, and summer / fall coaches need to be on the same page when evaluating the potential health concerns for young pitchers. There should be a plan for the season and for the year. The plan should include pitch counts / limits, rest intervals between outings, and built in segments to rest during the calendar year. The pitch count limitation on NC high school baseball does not apply to pitchers after the high school season. There are organizations that run tournaments that follow pitch count guidelines in the summer and fall, but again that may only apply for the week that pitcher is involved in that event.

Competitive Balance and Game Management

Coaches and teams will have to manage pitch counts along with all other aspects of the game this spring. A pitcher that is completely dominating a game and at 100 pitches entering the 7^th inning, may not be able to finish, regardless of being in position to complete the 7^th with ease.

Coaches will also have to watch their bullpen arms, depending on how quickly they would like to bounce them back for their next game that week. Up two in the 7^th with your closer in the game and closing in on pitch number 31, with two outs… Finish the game and the closer will not be available for the game the next day… Remove him, work to get the last remaining out with another arm, and the closer is available for the next day.

High schools that have the ability to develop strike throwers will be ahead in the regular season, especially in the conferences that are playing three games per week. Whether it is the ace or the fifth pitcher, the ability to throw strikes and advance the game, without wasting pitches will enable that team to manage games with a higher quality. High schools that have bigger enrollments should be at an advantage too. Several coaches, in the PBR survey, mentioned the pitch count rule putting their JV program in jeopardy, simply because there were not enough pitches in the week, within the school, for two teams to survive with the pitch count. The smaller schools will look to develop more arms but moving forward those schools will limit their number of games per week and will probably be limited, within their schedule, for make-up dates should bad weather become a factor.

One area that should improve in the coming years is the pitch-ability of the NC pitchers. Several years back, the bat requirements were changed to the BESR rules that are in place today. When the bats first changed, there was an epidemic of bad offenses across amateur baseball. For years, with the super-charged bats, hitters were rewarded for bad contact and bad swings. The BESR model bats limited the rewards and forced hitters to find the barrel. As hitters had time with the new bats, they adjusted and so should the pitchers. In the coming years, pitchers will throw more strikes and will stay in “attack-mode” throughout the lineup, as they understand momentary lapses will cost them the ability to go deep into games.

The new regulations will be good for high school baseball, but it will take time. I am sure the NCHSAA and the NCBCA will go back, after the 2017 season, and re-work or tweak areas that need to be adjusted. The regulations were put in for the good of the players and the game. Ultimately that thought process should be rewarded. In the meantime, be prepared for a few football scores to come across baseball scoreboards this spring.

Feedback on this Article

If you have any thoughts on this article or on the Pitch Count Regulations and how they will affect High School Baseball in North Carolina, you can leave a comment HERE… The staff at PBR will look through the comments and add selected comments to this article. You can also tag PBR on Twitter , @PrepBaseballNC, or use #NCPitchCount. PBR welcomes feedback on making the game of baseball better across the state of North Carolina.

Next week, NC Insider will look at Conference Play… Scheduling and rules. If you have any thoughts on areas we should dig into you can email us or hit us up on Twitter at @PrepBaseballNC.