Pitch counts are silly

Pitch Count are two of the silliest words associated with baseball and there's a ton that would qualify for that list.


More than Nelly being a successful rapper or Jason Sehorn being able to pull the stunning Angie Harmon after showing only a glimspe of true potential on the football field (Yes, I'm saying that if you're a New York Giant and come up young on the field, you shouldn't be allowed to pull amazing females like Ms. Harmon.)

But I digress...

It's a movement that has now been championed from the bottom (Little League baseball) to the top with announcers and TV directors routinely flashing just how many pitches so and so has thrown so far.

I'm smart enough to realize that much smarter men have written much more on this topic than I have, including Rob Neyer and Bill James and Steve Treder's great article on The Hardball Times, so I won't bore you by repeating what they've said. I'll just spout my two cents and leave it alone...

These articles deal with the major leages, but the problem starts before these kids make it that far. Players twenty years ago didn't worry about a pitch count, at that time it was a concern for innings but that shouldn't matter either.

Any capable catcher, whether he's 29 or 9 years old, can tell when the pitcher on the mound doesn't have "it" anymore. Any coach worth his weight in chewing gum and cliche phrases should be able to see when a pitcher doesn't have "it" anymore. And the same way a hitter gets better with more and more swings, the only way a pitcher is going to have a strong arm is to throw and throw.

Granted, it's important to have proper mechanics and that's where you're likely getting all these arm injuries from at an early age. If you let kids throw however they want, then ask them to throw with more weight, power and pressure but they've been straining their elbow from the beginning, it's asking for an injury regardless how many pitches they throw...