When Providence baseball coach Mark Smith won his third straight state title this spring, he did so with only one pitcher breaking 105 pitches in a game and his starters throwing once a week.
Limits like those are about to become uniform.
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Varsity baseball pitchers in Illinois will be on a 115-pitch count beginning in the 2017 season, as recommended this week by the IHSA’s baseball advisory committee.
The rules are pending approval of the IHSA’s Board of Directors in October.
The plan to help prevent young players from throwing-related injuries follows a rule passed in July by the National Federation of High School Associations mandating that all member associations adopt a pitch count limit by the 2017 season.
“Quite frankly the number of injuries has increased over the years based on the fact that kids are throwing more with less rest,” said Aurora Central Catholic baseball coach Sean Bieterman, a member of the advisory committee. “This is a long time coming.”
Research backs up Bieterman’s claims.
A 2015 study by the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine found that 56.7 percent of Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgeries between 2007-2011 were performed on pitchers ages 15-19.
Vermont was the first state to adopt a pitch count, in 2008. Illinois has had no such policy, keeping pitch counts in the hands of coaches and pitchers.
It hasn’t always worked out well.
Last season, Genoa-Kingston coach Roger Butler received criticism when he let pitcher Brady Huffman throw 167 pitches during a 4-3, 10-inning loss to Burlington Central on April 21.
“These rules take the coach and the human element out of this,” Bieterman said. “We’re not trying to baby kids, but we have to be the voice of reason.”
The 115-pitch count is one of a handful of new limits. Pitchers on the freshman and sophomore levels will be on a 95-pitch maximum. Also, pitchers who throw 31-45 pitches in a game must rest a day, and those throwing 46-60 would have to wait two days. A pitcher who throws 115 pitches would be required to rest a minimum of four days.
Smith is anxious to see how the rules will be monitored. He also noted that these rules don’t address the usage of pitchers on travel teams.
“You ask most high school coaches, they’ll tell you they’re doing what’s best for the kids — but we only have them for three months,” Smith said. “Kids throw year-round, they throw showcases. I understand what they’re doing, but high school coaches are getting a bad rap.”
Naperville Central coach Mike Stock said the new limits won’t change how his program operates. Central pitchers throw 50-60 pitchers their first time out in the spring, and advance to 80 the next start.
“You can’t argue with the spirit of the (new limits),” Stock said. “I believe strongly that our program and the ones around us do a very good job protecting kids. That’s the way I was taught, that the most beneficial thing to a young arm is rest.”
Hampshire coach John Sarna would prefer that coaches become more educated on the issue — but be allowed to make their own decisions.
By Sarna’s monitoring, if pitchers’ mechanics have changed or they are laboring they’re pulled long before 105 pitches. He also will not allow pitchers to play in the field the next day.
“I was hoping that we’d go through mandatory training to understand how the body breaks down,” said Sarna, a former athletic trainer with the Marlins. “A lot of coaches don’t have the background and don’t understand how the body works.”
The thinking has changed since Smith got his start as an assistant with Joliet Junior College in the 1990s.
“Ask old-schoolers, they’d say the more you throw the better — we never had pitch counts,” Smith said. “But a lot of things have changed. Part of that is pitchers throw the ball a lot faster and with more force and velocity. It puts a lot more wear and tear on ligaments and tendons than the body is supposed to.”
The new rules
*A pitcher is limited to 115 pitches in a game. If a pitcher pitches between 76-115 pitches, four rest days are required before his next appearance. Three rest days are required for 61-75 pitches, two for 46-60 and one for 31-45.
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*If a pitcher makes a second appearance in a seven-day period, he is limited to 90 pitches in his second appearance. A third appearance in seven days will be capped at 45 pitches.
*A pitcher who reaches the limit in the middle of an at-bat will be allowed to complete the at-bat.
*If the pitcher is ambidextrous, the limit applies to total pitches, not to each arm.
*Teams are required to count their own pitches and their opponents’. The teams will compare counts after even-numbered innings.
Joshua Welge is a freelance reporter for the baiduhai.