Managing and Developing Pitching

One of the most challenging things as a youth baseball coach is managing young arms and pitching. If you coach a team that is relatively good, you want to play in some highly competitive tournaments. Over the years, these events have become huge profit makers for surrounding hotels, restaurants, and the organizations that put them on. Naturally, the more teams that play in these events the more money that is generated. An afterthought to most organizers is how can a team with 11-12 players safely have enough pitching to play up to 6-8 games in a 3 day span.

Honestly, 80% of the teams in these events don't have to worry about making it that far, but the other 20% either have kids who only pitch or run the risk of over-taxing kids arms. While the team I coach isn't one of the ones that will always be playing late on Sundays in big events, we make it there enough that it has made me spend considerable time thinking about how to properly manage and develop pitching over the years. We also don't have pitchers only, so the 11 kids we show up with play every game.

Now before I go into detail, I will throw out the disclaimer that like 95% of all other teams, we will have a kid pitch 6 innings and then play the field the next game. If teams and events really cared about young arms, pitchers wouldn't be allowed to play the field after throwing a certain number of pitches, but that would kill travel baseball. So with that out of the way, here is how I would encourage all youth coaches to try and manage and develop pitching.

Developing Pitching

9/10u

This is the age where coaches should be trying to develop as many pitchers as they can on their teams. Yes, some kids may struggle to find the strikezone or throw hard, but the only way they can learn how to pitch is by practicing. You can't make chicken salad out of chicken sh&t, but on a travel team every kid should be able to catch and throw the ball without reservation from any coach, so there is no reason for a coach at that level to say that a kid cannot pitch. At this age you can almost guarantee that you're going to have at least 1-2 games every weekend where the score is going to be lopsided one way or the other. These are the perfect times to give as many kids as you can the opportunity to pitch in games. Sometimes when the schedule comes out you know the outcome of these games beforehand. Instead of beating a team by 15-20 runs, give your weaker pitchers a chance to develop. If you want to have opportunities to succeed in large events in the future, you're going to need as many reliable arms as you can find. Also, keep an eye on pitch counts. At this age the kids arms are like rubber, but there is no reason to have kids throwing more than 60-70 pitches in a weekend. If you're doing this, you're not developing your other pitchers and you're setting up those kids for arm issues down the road.

11/12u

This is the age where secondary pitches should be introduced and properly taught. Now, I didn't say they should necessarily be thrown in games, but they should be taught and practiced. Kids should have opportunities at practices and winter workouts to refine them, without the in game pressures of live hitters. Some kids will be able to consistently throw them in games, which is fine if done properly and their workload is still properly managed. Now is the age where I start to look more at innings than pitches. How do kids respond mentally and physically as they work 4 or 5 innings? Do their mechanics break down? Does their velocity significantly drop? You have to know which kids can be counted on to start games and give some length versus which kids are better coming in for a couple innings to relieve. This is also the age where you start to hear, "my arm hurts." Coaches need to pay attention to that and not always wait for a kid to say it. Because the ligaments have not fully developed at this age, kids are at a high risk for bone injuries, chips, and fractures.

13u

This is the age where secondary pitches really become a significant part of the game. Kids may not always be consistent with them, but they should be learning how to really pitch. It's no longer about just throwing strikes, but location becomes significant. Without fastball command, secondary pitches really don't matter that much. If kids can command their fastball, they don't have to throw developing secondary pitches in predictable counts. This can help build confidence with secondary pitches. Even if they cannot consistently command their secondary pitches yet, keep calling them. Practice makes perfect, and the pitchers at this age should be conditioned to experience failure and learn how to work through it. When the mound jumps back to the full 60 feet next year, they will have no shot at being effective without secondary pitches, regardless of how hard they throw. Velocity now becomes a bigger factor. At the younger ages, kids who can throw strikes are invaluable, but as the mound continues to move further back, the fields get bigger, and the hitters get stronger, you need pitchers who can throw the ball by someone and threaten to keep them off balance. Starters should be conditioned to go 75-95 pitches. The need to hold runners in a variety of ways becomes very important. This is where kids will tell you their arm hurts, but as a coach you need to ask where it hurts and dig into why it hurts. At this age pitching gets really difficult. Kids need to learn that their arm is always going to hurt a bit when they pitch. They need to learn to push through it, PROPERLY, and start learning to ice their arm when they get home or back to the hotel. My arm hurts for some kids means, I am unsure of competing. The mental side of pitching needs to be developed and monitored as much as the physical side.

14u

By now the kids should be able to consistently throw secondary pitches for strikes and locate their fastball. Starters should be able to give you 5-6 innings every time out. They should also be really good and holding runners close. Overuse at this age can really lead to a significant injury that inhibits a kid's future, so how and when they are used is extremely important. I'll dive into this as I continue, but as the father of a pitcher with reasonable talent, I see things at this age that make me wonder how/why parents do not step in and say anything to their coaches.

Ok, so nothing too revolutionary listed above, but let me discuss the process we go through to get there. This is what I think sets us apart from other teams and organizations.

Bullpens

Pitchers need to pitch. Nobody has ever become good at any craft or skill by doing it only on the weekends in high pressure situations. Kids/pitchers should be throwing bullpens at every practice. Now I don't necessarily mean getting on a mound and putting a catcher in full gear, but kids need to get reps. Ever since we were 8, after our kids got done stretching and throwing, they were brought into the age appropriate pitching distance with their throwing partner. They were told to throw 20-25 pitches to each other. Each kid, age group, or practice has a specific point of emphasis. At the younger ages, it's all about throwing strikes. As the kids get older, it's about the secondary pitches and fastball command. This is where they get the relaxed environment to work on learning how to throw a curve or change-up. As a coach you can watch and help them with mechanics or grips. The kids are throwing about 80%, with only a few pitches at full velocity, but as they get older every one of these pitches is important to develop command and consistency with all of their pitches.

This is also a great way to have kids learn how to hold runners. As kids are throwing to each other, tell them that they have to practice holding runners. Whatever they do on one pitch, they can't do on the next. They need to mix up their timing and looks with their head. They should also be practicing footwork on pick-offs.

Bullpens need to be a time of focus from the players. Baseball practices can lead to players standing around and talking at times, and they can do this while throwing bullpens, but this time during practice is where coaches and players really need to have a focus. As kids get older, it's necessary to get a consistent feel for secondary pitches, but it's also crucial that they can locate their fastball. You can't have great fastball command if you don't practice it. As a coach, you get to see kids pitches and command. Why call for curveballs or fastball location in games if they can't do it in practice?

Bullpens should also be a time where kids can develop. I've written previous blogs about the stupidity of some philosophies on bullpens, but our philosophy is very simple. To build arm stamina you need to throw. It's pretty similar to running, before you can run five miles you need to run three. Now, some coaches take this as kids should be throwing 50-60 pitch bullpens. In practices or workouts kids do this in about 15-20 minutes, yet in a game that same number of pitches occurs over the span of about 40 minutes. I equate this to someone that wants to run five miles spending their time training doing sprints. So, kids need to throw in order to build their stamina, but in my opinion all of that throwing doesn't have to be done on a mound. Most really good pitchers need about 25-35 pitches to work on everything they need to. If the arm and body are properly conditioned, they will be able to pitch well beyond the small number of pitches they throw in a bullpen.

Additionally, bullpens should be low pressure. Too many coaches want to develop pitchers and their pitches by putting them up against live hitters. If nothing else, this causes pitchers to get out of rhythm and worry more about results instead of execution. What good does is do a pitcher to strikeout a hitter in practice with a fastball if they've missed their spot by over a foot? Also, if a kid is learning how to throw a curveball and which way to throw it in different counts, why would you want a kid hitting a line drive off of them? What does that do for the kid's confidence? And why do some coaches have kids throwing to live hitters in January/February? That should be the time where pitchers are throwing and building up stamina. Not maxing out or being deflated because every time they throw a curveball it is nowhere near the zone or hit hard. The goal is for your pitchers to be hitting their stride for the big events midway through your season, not indoors in late March.

Usage

The goal for any youth coach is to get their kids ready for the next level, and that next level for our kids is sub varsity in high school. That is why I am going to share the sub varsity pitching rules and want you to take a good look at them.

Sub‐Varsity Pitch Count Level Pitches Required Rest

1‐25 0 days

26‐35 1 day

36‐60 2 days

61‐80 3 days

81‐90+ 4 days

Now I would be willing to bet a cold beverage that in under 10 seconds you can easily name a player, coach, or organization that violates these requirements on a weekly basis. Keep in mind, these are recommendations for safety, and have nothing to do with evaluating how effective a pitcher actually is the next time they throw. In high school, if a coach violates these guidelines the coach AND the player are suspended. Now, those teams might have to play 5 games in 6 days, not 6 games in 3 days, but the guidelines do not have to be violated if you properly manage and develop your pitching.

So let's walk this dog through a typical weekend scenario. Coach A looks at the tournament he's playing in. He's playing on Friday night and knows he would have to win 5 games to win it all. Winning that first game is important for seeding, so he decides to throw his best pitcher for "only" 3 innings or 50 pitches. This gives him the best chance, in his mind, to put himself in a good spot for Sunday and bring back the same kid to win a bracket game by throwing 6 innings or an additional 80-100 pitches. According to tournament rules and guidelines, he has broken no rules. However, when you look at the high school guidelines he has asked a young and developing pitcher to do something that would be illegal in the future because of the danger is poses to his arm and future. Additionally, if Coach A did this for this tournament, you can bet that is his strategy for every tournament. So this kid will likely experience this same hazardous approach to pitching 10-12 weekends a year, or right about 20% of the calendar year.

Now, let's look at Coach B. Coach B looks at their tournament schedule and decides he's going to use his top guys for around 30 pitches in pool play. This will allow him to safely bring them back on Sunday. No rules have been violated and the kids arm should not be in great danger. However, most kids that weigh less than 150 pounds are not built to have the stamina to be effective over the course of a season being used like this. Coach B can't figure out why his pitchers start getting hit hard the second time through the lineup on Sundays. He's not overly concerned because his top arms are "fresh," but his pitchers aren't as effective as he thinks they could or should be. I've never used either of those philosophies because while it may help win an extra game, I believe it stunts the growth of the kid and puts them at risk.

Developing a Winning Mentality for the Next Level

If you came and watched our team play, you would see that we only have one arm that makes you really go, "wow" and take notice. However, we are consistently complimented by other coaches on how well our kids can pitch. That process began years prior and is developed through instruction during the winter, but it is a well received compliment.

My goal the past couple years as we have moved into the 13 and 14 year old age brackets is to not only get pitchers ready for the workload they will see in high school, but also to get them to take ownership of the game they are pitching. Our kids know when they take the mound that it is THEIR game. They aren't coming back to pitch a couple days later. Their job is to give it everything they have and win their start. I believe this is why when you watch our games, our kids get stronger and settle in during the middle innings while other teams kids start to struggle. Our pitchers talk to each other about not wanting to be the guy with the shortest outing or giving up the most runs. It is a competition among the kids. It has developed a mental edge and toughness that kids don't get to learn and grow from when they are only pitching 2-3 innings at a time so they can be saved to come back later that weekend. Baseball is a team game, but the pitcher controls the game. It's a lot easier to control the game when it is your game, not when you know you're only throwing a certain number of pitches or innings.

Don't Save Pitching For a Game You Didn't Play

The worst ride home from any tournament is when you lose and your best pitchers never threw or only got a couple of innings on the mound. Countless times other coaches have told me that they should have started this kid, but they were saving him for a certain game. Then they had to bring him in when their team was down by 5 runs and ended up losing by 2. Sure would have been nice to win that game and see what happened in the next one. Instead, you're driving home and your fifth best pitcher threw twice as many innings as your stud.

I am speaking from experience on this topic. We have all had to learn the hard way, but the key is to learn. And to take things a step further, you want your players to learn. What good are you doing your top pitchers if they rarely get to face the best teams because you're saving them for other games that never happen or they only throw 2-3 innings?

When you go to a high level event, every team is good. Expect that and plan accordingly. Know that every team, that is well-managed, is going to be coming with their top pitchers. The more games you win, the thinner everyone's pitching gets. And if you've trained your kids to go deep into games, you will have the advantage.

We go into big events trying to win games. We don't save pitching or try to bring guys back for another game. Win games and put yourself in a position to wear other teams down. It is a huge advantage to be playing in your fifth or sixth game of the weekend with a fresh arm versus a team that is using a kid for the second or third time in a weekend. Even if the kid you have on the mound is your fourth or fifth best pitcher, you have the advantage over the other team. You wouldn't have won that many games if you couldn't hit anyways. On top of that, your four or fifth best pitcher benefits from going up against a high level team or pitching in a championship game. Our team has a clear Number 1 pitcher, but after that our team has just as much confidence in the next 5 guys because every single one of them has pitched in big time games against big time teams.

Don't save pitching. Use it! As the old baseball saying goes, good pitching beats good hitting, so why save it? Even if you lose, you won't have any regrets about not throwing your best pitcher/s on the Sunday drive home.

Nurturing Success

Every coach has that kid/s that have the natural arm talent, but can't ever seem to find the confidence on the mound. It is so tantalizing and frustrating as a coach to see that potential talent, yet get consistent poor results or body language.. However, because they throw harder than other kids we're going to keep putting them on the mound. They will continue to tantalize and frustrate you as a coach. They'll strike out the side one inning, and then the next inning they'll walk 4 kids and be looking at you because they want to come out of the game. Or if they don't want to come out of the game, you have to take them out because it's a close bracket game. Now the kid with one of the best arms on your team has just given you 1-2 innings on the entire weekend and is mentally shaken.

If this keeps happening on a regular basis it's your fault as a coach. Ask yourself what kind of situations you're putting that kid in. Typically at the very young ages our hardest throwers pitch in the most important games. Those games are also the most stressful games. We have to take them out after 30-40 pitches when they struggle because it's a "must win game." After a few times, this becomes the norm for the kid and they expect failure or can't handle the stress of pitching.

As a coach, you need to convince yourself that it is ok to lose a game or two for the long term benefit of the kid and team. If you have a kid who throws hard but isn't having much success, it's your job to find a spot for him to be successful. Put him into a pool play game and tell him that no matter what he's pitching 4-5 innings. Who cares if we win or lose? We're still going to be playing in a bracket on Sunday and you won't have to worry about pitching. Put him into a pool play game where you are up or down by a good margin. Take him out after a successful inning. Don't let him stay on the mound until bad things start happening again. By giving them the ability to build on success in low pressure roles, they will hopefully gain the confidence to eventually grow back into the bigger, more important, role that you envisioned.

Pitching is so mentally demanding, and potentially crushing for young kids. We look at kids with the plus arms and just assume they should be the kids who want to pitch or have success doing it, but it's your job as a coach to ensure that if they are struggling you try to change their environment or role. It's ok to lose a couple games for a potential long term gain. Over the years I've seen a couple of our kids grow from middle of the pack pitchers on our team to one of our top guys. Not everyone is ready for a big role at the same time, so nurture them until they're ready. Even if they're only winning you a pool play game, they're still setting your team and themselves up for success.

Have a Plan (Be a Manager)

Sounds simple enough right, but I'm not sure every manager does. There is a reason that in every other sport they are called coaches, but in baseball you are called a manager. While you are coaching, your first priority in youth baseball is managing arms.

Every game we play the kids know who is starting and available for relief that game. The starter is communicated the day before. Relievers might know the day before, but they definitely know before the game begins the next day. Pitching takes some mental preparation. Kids need to know this so they have time to prepare. If a kid knows he's going to be starting on the mound, he knows he needs to eat and hydrate a little bit more before the game. If a kid knows he's next in line to relieve, they're more in tune with what is taking place. When they see the starter struggling they are already mentally preparing to go on the mound. You should have that reliever already in the dugout and communicating to them when they might come in. The few times I have had to get off script and throw a kid on the mound without much mental preparation the results have been typically bad. However, it's not the kid's fault. It is squarely mine for putting them in that situation.

Make sure kids get proper warm ups. I see countless teams/managers walk out in the middle of an inning and just point to a kid to come on the mound. 5-6 warm up pitches and away we go. Throw as hard as you can without warming up properly. When you put those words together is looks and sounds ridiculous, but that's what so many coaches do on a routine basis every game. And yep, I've done this before too. However, 99% of the time our kids get a proper warm up or bullpen before going on the mound. Countless times I see a coach walk out of the dugout that has 2-3 kids in their with him and put a position player on the mound. Why didn't he put one of his subs in a batter or two before that so the kid could warm up? Why didn't he have that kid warm up during their last at bat in case he had to be on the mound the next inning? Things don't typically happen that quickly in baseball, so there is no excuse to do that to kids on a normal or routine basis. The majority of times I will tell a kid that they are sitting because they are going to be next on the mound or pitching the next game and I want them to rest or get an opportunity to warm up properly.

But what do you do about the kid you can't take out of the game because of his positional value? 99% of the time I'm talking about your shortstop. Well, as a manager this is where you need to have a plan. If there is a considerable drop off between your starting SS and your backup, pitch your starting SS against a weaker team that you think you can beat without your best defense behind him. Bring him into games where you're trailing. Chances are he has the arm to hold down the other team a bit, and if the defense let's him down you were already trailing to begin with.

Like most teams, the catcher has the best arm but the most demanding job. As a manager, this is where you really have to have a plan. If you know you're going to get into a situation where he is going to have to potentially pitch and catch in the same day, he shouldn't do either the day before or after. You also shouldn't plan on using your catcher as a reliever in the same game. It's tempting to bring them in to blow it by kids for an inning or two, but that is so potentially damaging to a kids arm that the risk is not worth it. It's also important to have open conversations with that kid's parents about their arm and usage. If a parent has an issue with how their kid's arm is being used, it is your job to manage that accordingly and along the lines of what the parent deems appropriate in terms of safety.

Watch Your Kids Pitch/Have Protocols

This sounds obvious, but let me explain. If you pay attention when kids are doing their bullpens and throwing in practices, you get to know their body language quite well. As kids get older and the games seem more important, kids won't tell you their arm hurts until it is really hurting. A good coach knows the typical velocity of their pitchers and recognizes when it drops. That is a strong indicator that something is wrong or the kid is just tired. It could just be from playing 4 games in the field, or it could be that something is bothering him. However, when the velocity drops during a game it's time to take action and get him off the mound. Also, kids can't fake body language. If something is really bothering a kid and their arm, there is no way they can hide it on the mound. There will be a wince or shaking of the arm during and/or after every pitch. A coach needs to see this right away.

Now again, some kids need to learn to work through "normal" pitching discomfort as they get older. As kids get older, nothing between their elbow and shoulder is going to feel spectacular. They need to learn that and how to push through that. However, if a kid says his elbow or shoulder are bothering him that is an automatic take a seat. Sometimes the kid will come to you later in the day or the next day and tell you that everything is fine. As a coach, I often sit those kids anyways for two reasons. 1. They could be lying and their arm really is still bothering them or 2. Their arm really wasn't bothering them, they were just afraid to compete and need to get the feel of having that taken away from them. Almost all of the time it is No. 2 and I am rarely surprised when the next weekend the kid has no arm issues and does not want to come out of the game.

Conclusion

In the end, this is just one guys opinion sitting behind a keyboard. However, our team just finished playing 15 games in 14 days. We went 11-1 in our own age group and took on some damn good teams. We only have two guys who throw 75 or higher, and only 1 time did we violate a high school pitching guideline, and that was for 14 pitches. I consulted with the kid prior to doing it, and didn't love the fact that I did it. Everything that we have done over the years has gotten us to this point. I'm proud of how we do things and how tough our kids have become on the mound. All of our top pitchers are prepared to do battle in high school and their arms and bodies are conditioned for it. I always tell anyone who asks that I only manage one team, but I'll never shy away from saying that I would manage and develop other team's arms a whole lot differently.