Pitch Counts are for pitchers without a Mother Hen

Major league owners to Little League Administrators are concerned about protecting pitchers arms, and they should be whether it is to protect a little guy as he grows and matures or to protect a multimillion-dollar prospect. Little League has gone to great lengths to set rules governing how often and how much a pitcher can throw, based on his innings pitched. Most High School Leagues have been limiting the number of innings pitched per week in hopes of protecting pitchers arms. Lately, the trend is toward pitch counts. When it comes to protecting a pitchers arm, I agree that pitch counts are a valuable tool. They are a much more valuable tool than innings pitched because they keep a more accurate account of stress and fatigue on a pitchers arm. I’ve had 13 and 14 year olds come for lessons with me and tell me how great they did pitching their 6 innings over the weekend. They point out that they only pitched 3 innings on Saturday and three innings on Sunday. Unfortunately, they threw 80 some pitches on Saturday and came back with 60 some pitches on Sunday. That’s over 140 pitches in two days. I know coaches aren’t trying to hurt young pitchers. They just aren’t experienced or educated enough to know any better.
 
Most experts believe that injuries occur to an arm when a pitcher keeps throwing with a fatigued arm. This can happen by throwing too many pitches on a given day but most likely occurs by cumulative trauma to the shoulder and/or elbow joint by pitchers not allowing their arms to recover from previous games pitched. Establishing pitch counts is a calculated guess to determine the number of pitches a pitcher can throw safely each time he pitches. The counts are designed to get a pitcher out of a game before he is pitching with a fatigued arm, or stop him from pitching again before his arm has recovered.
 
College and Professional baseball have no mandatory rules governing innings pitched or pitch counts. It is left up to each particular team or organization to develop its own strategy. The other factor that Colleges and Pro teams employ is the pitching coach, and a good one is worth his weight in gold. In my time of playing, I was fortunate to be under some great pitching coaches. Roger Craig was instrumental in getting me ready for the big leagues.
 
He communicated belief in me so well that, when I got called up to the Dodgers in 1973, he made sure I had his number 38 on my back. Red Adams helped me in my early years. He could tell, just by watching me during a game or bullpen, whether my mechanics were changing even the slightest, due to fatigue. Don McMahon helped me establish myself after surgery. He treated me like a son and never let me over extend myself. Marcel Lachemann helped me adjust in my last years of playing with the Angels. He knew me like a well-read book. He knew every trick I had to try to stay in games. He knew when I was tired and fatigued before I did. He could tell by my body language or by my first few throws in the bullpen whether my arm was bothering me or not. I grew to trust his judgment as if he were my own dad. All of these fine coaches had one thing in common. They were Mother Hens when it came to their pitchers.
 
Mother Hens know that all pitchers are different and treat each one as an individual. Pitchers have different physical make-ups. I was a pitcher that had good endurance on the day I was to pitch, but I needed more rest than most pitchers in between starts in order to recover. The other extreme was Mike Marshall, the Cy Young Award reliever. He felt slighted if he didn’t get to pitch every day. While one pitcher will let you know every pain he has, another will never let you know until he can’t lift his arm. Pitchers employ different mechanics. They practice different exercise and nutritional programs, and their bodies can react differently to identical exercise and nutritional programs.
 
Mother Hens know situations with pitchers change from outing to outing and they adjust. They may let a young pitcher go over his normal pitch count to finish off a game in which he is pitching his butt off. But then the next time he pitches, they watch him like an overprotective mother and get him out at the first sign that he is tired so that he doesn’t accumulate fatigue. They may get a pitcher out of a game early when he is laboring under extreme humidity or wind, or they may let a pitcher go longer on a calm cool evening.
 
Another characteristic of Mother Hens is that they know each of their pitchers signs of fatigue. A pitcher may lose the snap on his breaking ball. Another may start to get his fastball up in the zone. Some pitchers might begin to lose control while others might change their mechanics to maintain effectiveness. They go more on body language than on what a pitcher says. One pitcher may start fidgeting with his arm while another might not look you in the eye when you ask him how he is doing.
 
A Mother Hen is a trusted advocate for their pitchers to the manager. He is trusted both by the manager to communicate essential information about his pitchers to allow him to make the best decisions regarding the pitchers during the game and in setting up the starting and relief rotation. Pitchers trust their pitching coach to protect their position on the club and to honestly communicate their role on the staff. Most importantly, they know that in the heat of the game, they can trust that the pitching coach will stick up for their best interest and protect both their arm and their competitive desire to win the game.
 
If you watch games closely and observe the pitching coaches, you know there are some Mother Hens working today. I smile every time I read quotes of Leo Mazzone where he says he doesn’t need pitch counts or video. He says, “I got eyes.” What he is really saying is that he knows and cares for his pitchers because he spends time observing them enough to know all their nuances.
 
When Bob Cluck, (What a great name for a Mother Hen pitching coach!) was the pitching coach for the Tigers you could watch in between innings or after Alan Trammel takes one of his pitchers out of the game. You would usually see him with his arm around his pitcher, finding out how his arm is and teaching him with every opportunity that comes along.
 
The sad fact is that there are not enough Mother Hens to go around from Little League to the Big Leagues. That makes having pitch counts for pitchers mandatory. My goodness, parents are suing coaches and leagues because they aren’t treating their sons the way they think they should be treated. In a recent issue of ‘Baseball America’, the Colorado Rockies declined to share information on pitch counts “citing the possibility of a lawsuit should a pitcher exceed them even once.”* Pitchers are arriving at colleges and pro ball with arms damaged already by overuse. Some pitchers never get out of youth leagues because their arms are burnt out or their joy of playing has been snuffed out by overuse or over exuberant fathers/coaches.
 
If I was a college or high school coach today I would make sure I had a written pitch count policy, not only for the pitchers safety but to protect myself from parents or lawyers. Parents are increasingly sending their sons to college, not for the education, but as a stepping-stone to pro ball. I actually had a parent ask me how I was going to position their son for the draft. Potential dollars is the issue and where money is involved, if performance doesn’t match expectations, expect complaints and blame. Pitch counts are a good barometer and give you a guideline to follow. They must protect against having pitchers come back too soon as well as not having them throw too much on any given day. Some clubs have rules for their relievers such as 30 or more pitches gives them the next day off and 45 or more gives them the next two days off. For me, getting a pitcher up three times in the bullpen is the same as using him in a game so that must be taken into consideration. In addition, playing a pitcher at any position besides DH or first base the day after he has thrown a lot of pitches greatly increases the risk of arm injuries. This is especially a problem in high school where pitchers routinely play other critical positions like shortstop.
 
Even youth league coaches need to keep better track of pitch counts in order to avoid repetitive trauma to the shoulder and elbow joints. I would like to see youth organizations develop better policies to protect pitchers. I would even like to see the leagues with 8, 9 and maybe even 10 year olds think about using a smaller and lighter ball. During the five plus years that I taught individual lessons I had one pitcher between the ages of 8-10 that came to me throwing the ball close to mechanically correct. Through trial and error I found that when I put a tennis ball in their hands they picked up the mechanical concepts much faster than when I had them throw a baseball. My conclusion was and still is that the ball is to large and heavy for these young pitchers which continually causes them to reinforce wrong mechanics, through repetition, until such a time that they are strong enough and their hand is large enough to throw a regular baseball.
 
Yes, the time is coming soon when it will be necessary to have mandatory pitch counts from youth leagues through high school and college, protecting starting and relief pitchers. In the mean time, keep a sharp lookout at games from Little Leagues to the Big Leagues. If you are observant enough you will spot those Mother Hens. They are part of a rare breed and I, for one, tip my cap to all of them.
 
* Baseball America, On sale through May 25, 2003, page 8
 
Geoff Zahn is a twelve- year major league veteran pitcher winning over 100 games while pitching for the Dodgers, Cubs, Twins, and Angels. He served as the Head Baseball Coach at the University of Michigan for six years. Geoff has been a clinician and speaker for over twenty- five years and currently teaches and consults with pitchers from youth to the Big Leagues. Geoff can be reached at [email protected]
 
May 18, 2003, Updated June 25, 2007
By Geoff Zahn Former Head Baseball Coach University of Michigan and 12 Year Major League Veteran Pitcher