Learn about Pitch Counts in Youth Baseball

Clubhouse Gas Casey: We just did a show a couple of weeks ago about the new pitch count rules that have come down from little league and also about the controversy going on with the wood versus metal debate. Well we’re going to talk to a long time little league manager today and get his opinion on the new rules as well as maybe some controversial topics. It’s quite interesting so stay tuned to Clubhouse Gas. We’re joined now by John Adams. John thank you so much for joining us buddy. John Adams: Good to see you Casey. Casey: Start us off by telling us how long you’ve been coaching little league baseball? John Adams: This coming year in 08 it will be my 10th year doing this. Casey: Now you started under the innings pitch through. Right the regular innings pitch and this one is your first year with pitch count? John Adams: It was first year with pitch count. Casey: What kind of difference did you see as far as managing a regular season what kind of difference did you see with this rule? John Adams: Probably the only difference that I see is that it forces you really to think ahead in terms of what game you have coming up you know. It makes you look down the bench and see who can come in and pitch if your lead guide gets in trouble. Casey: We’re you encouraged at the beginning of the year maybe to develop more pitching because of this rule? John Adams: Fortunately in this year I was not put in that position and this next year I will be so in regards to the pitch count this year it’s going to be really started in the draft. You’ll have to start drafting kids that you look for the potential to be able to pitch and be able to maybe step in there and follow up with your 12 year old, behind your 12 year old. Casey: Is that a positive for you, do you see that as a positive? John Adams: I think it’s great. More kids will get a chance to pitch. It will just be a good positive change. Casey: Now little league has made this rule change based on the advice of several leading orthopedic surgeons and health professionals and this is a youth safety related issue, do you see it having any huge benefit over the innings pitch rule which was the same kind of deal keeping kids arm safe? John Adams: You know if its safety factor we probably need to address the high-tech bets. You know kids get their arms stronger by pitching a lot. I think you have to be cautious with how you use a kids arm and if it’s really a safety issue we need to address using the curve ball. Casey: 46 curve balls in a row. John Adams: Yeah. Casey: Might be a lot worse than 100 fastballs. John Adams: That’s right I mean the fastballs going to help the kid get his arm stronger. You know the curve ball could risk the injury but you know being a competitive league it’s one of those that you get in a game situation and you throw in that curve ball a couple of times and I throw it again you know is a little conflict of you know the safety for the child and being competitive. Casey: How would you address that if you’re little league saying you know what that’s perfectly valid point and I make everybody out of their mind to argue that if your concerned with the safety of kids arms you need to regulate the curve ball. How would you regulate the curve ball? John Adams: I don’t know how you do it. I don’t have the answer. Casey: Because you have different off speed pitches, that have different effects on the arm and so how does a volunteer umpire? John Adams: Judge the kid is throwing a curve ball or not? Casey: Right, then you go back to the judgment of the coaches which I’m guess in is where they kind of were with the endings pitched the trust your coach when you pull them out if their arms are getting tired, but they keep putting more and more restrictions on the coaches. I don’t know where you would end up with that. John Adams: Alright. We know the pitch count I think helps when it comes to tournament play because you’re not having the kids come back the very next game or you know set out one game and they can pitch the second game. So for regular season I don’t know how much and its not having a huge impact but I could see how it would have a big impact in the tournaments. Casey: Maybe for the regular season it would have this impact, maybe if it gets parents thinking about how many pictures your kids are throwing when they see their kids throwing elsewhere such as on a travel ball team or whatever dad or mom will start paying attention to exactly how many pitches. Many that’s the silver lining in this whole argument is that it will bring awareness to parents of how important it is to use a limited number of pitches for a kid for a week. I don’t know maybe that’s something that may come out of this. I don’t know if you have a problem with your kids throwing travel ball. John Adams: When you have those deep glasses that come through a lot of kids like to play that fall, travel ball and you know they don’t really get a break. They play basically 12 months and you know its stuff. Casey: Now the new rule has just come down 2 weeks ago from little league. Added some restrictions on the pitching rule, added to the pitching rule from last year but added one very interesting element everywhere I go and everybody I talk to, every little league coach seems to have a problem with this and that is to catch a rule that if you pull your kid out if he is up for 45 pitches or 40 pitches the kid can’t go behind the plate in catch as a little league coach. What do you think of that one? John Adams: You know that’s not a good role. It’s not a good role too— Casey: In a word no? John Adams: If I could throw the kid another 40 pitches there’s no reason he shouldn’t be able to go behind the play and then catch. Casey: So if you’re going to bring a kid out of 45 and he can pitch 85 and he’s got 40 pitches left, he should be able to go behind the plate. Now if we take him behind the plate for another three innings you count that as a full days burn’t picture. John Adams: You know that could be. Casey: The regulation on the 40. John Adams: You know I can see the not putting the kid behind the play if he’s pitched 60 or more that makes sense to me. But if their allowing you to move the kid to short stop or center field or any where he has to make a long throw then bend behind the play it is, is not that a big a deal. It’s not like he’s throwing down the second every other play to try to throw a kid out. Casey: Yeah 11 and 12 year old throw down maybe ones as opposed to every other play. John Adams: Right. Casey: But— and there’s also a huge difference in a pitch the ball and another one back to the pitcher. John Adams: Very true. Casey: If you take your kid out your stud picture, out him again really there’s two places that he’s probably going to end up and that’s either a short stop or a catcher and to me it seems like playing a short stop for the little league baseball is a lot more taxing on the arm than playing catcher because you’re going to make a lot more across the infield throws pretty hard. John Adams: Without question I think that’s the case, it really makes you as a regular season coach to focus on the draft initially when the kids you select based on this rules. You know you have to have a kid who can play multiple positions but you also almost need to draft a kid that can play catcher. Sole league catcher and I’m worried about going to the mound. Casey: So based on the pitch count rule the new pitch count role and then in catcher rule, what we’re saying is something that we haven’t talked about or thought about at all which is the major effect this new rule is going to have on coaches before the season ever starts in the drafting process is something we hadn’t thought about. John Adams thank you so much for joining us buddy and good luck this year if you need help I’ll come first in VP. I was going to do it for us today. We’ll see you right back here tomorrow on Clubhouse Gas