Longtime York High baseball coach Rusty Ingram doesn’t just support the Virginia High School League’s recent decision to further limit the number of innings a pitcher can throw. Ingram, along with a doctor and a handful of other administrators from around the state, sat down together and wrote the new rule that will go into effect this spring.
“More and more we’re seeing kids’ arms ruined before they even graduate high school,” said Ingram, who’s been coaching baseball in the area since the mid 80’s. “Most coaches make an effort to protect their pitchers, but a lot really don’t know how their kids’ arms feel, and we’re seeing too many injuries because of it.
“This rule is simply to help keep pitchers healthy and limit the wear and tear on the shoulder and arm.”
The new regulations focus on mandating rest for pitchers and taking an interval approach to innings pitched, something the former rule did not do.
Under the newly adopted rule, pitchers are allowed to throw up to 14 innings a week with a certain amount of rest required in between outings depending on the amount of innings pitched.
For example, if a pitcher throws nine innings on Monday, he then must rest three full calendar days before returning to the hill. Had that same pitcher tossed only four innings on Monday, he would only need two days’ rest before being allowed to throw again.
Here’s the new rule as it will appear in the VHSL handbook:
56-1-1 Pitching Regulations: For the purposes of this rule, delivery of one pitch constitutes having pitched in one inning. A pitcher may pitch in a maximum of nine innings in one day but not more than fourteen innings in any seven day consecutive period. If a pitcher pitches in one inning for four consecutive days that pitcher shall have one calendar day of rest from competition pitching beginning with the day following the fourth consecutive day a pitch is thrown. If a pitcher pitches in two or three innings in one day that pitcher shall have one calendar day of rest from competition pitching beginning with the day following the first day a pitch is thrown.
If a pitcher pitches four to seven innings in one day that pitcher shall have two calendar days of rest from competition pitching beginning with the day following the first day a pitch is thrown. Further restrictions regarding this section include:
●After two days of rest a pitcher may pitch a maximum of two innings.
●After three days of rest a pitcher may pitch a maximum of three innings.
●After four days of rest a pitcher may pitch to the limit of the rule.
If a pitcher pitches in eight or nine innings in one day that pitcher shall have three calendar days of rest from competition pitching beginning with the day following the first day a pitch is thrown.
●After three days of rest a pitcher may pitch a maximum of two innings.
●After four days of rest a pitcher may pitch a maximum of three innings.
●After five days of rest a pitcher may pitch to the limit of the rule.
This limitation applies to regular season as well as post season play.
The former regulations did not require mandatory rest for pitchers. The old rule stated pitchers must only be limited to 10 innings of work in a two-day span.
“That was useless,” added Ingram, who, after pitching competitively until he was 33, says he is quite familiar with the lingering effects of arm and shoulder soreness. “If you throw a guy five innings every day he’s bound to get hurt. There was no rest period mandatory for pitchers, and that’s what I have a problem with.”
The new legislation is creating quite a stir around the state. (Read a Washington Post article here in which president of the Northern Region Baseball Coaches Association John Thomas calls it an “inaccurate” gauging tool, and another here from insidenova.com in which coaches label the new rule “ridiculous”). Many coaches say the new rule is too detailed, and believe pitchers should be regulated by pitch count, not by the number of innings thrown.
“Who’s going to count all that officially?” Ingram countered. “This isn’t a cure-all rule. But it’s a better way I think to make sure coaches don’t overuse pitchers.”
While reactions differ across the state, local coaches here in the Triangle are in full support of the new stipulations, saying that they’re all for anything that may help prevent injury to their players.
“Like all these new concussion rules that are popping up, if it’s something that is going to protect the athlete then I’m all for it,” Jamestown baseball coach Mike Kuebler said.
Penalties for exceeding the new pitching limit can be steep. Forfeiture and/or a $100 fine are possible sanctions that could be handed down by the VHSL for failing to meet requirements.
“I feel like most of the coaches around here already monitor the number of pitches and how many innings their guys throw, so I don’t see it being a huge problem,” Grafton coach Matt Lewellen said.
Lewellen foresees the only real issues for coaches coming when and if weather forces teams into back-to-backs or double-headers when planning out the work load for their rotation becomes more difficult, as well as late in the postseason when teams are playing games on consecutive days.
For instance, during last year’s Group AA state tournament Lewellen’s ace, Blake Ream, now pitching at Longwood University, threw eight innings in the Clippers’ 3-2 quarterfinal victory over Monticello on Tuesday. Later that week on Friday, Ream threw three or four more innings in Grafton’s 6-4 semifinal loss to Brookville, which would have been prohibited under the VHSL’s new regulations.
“We would have had to approach the state tournament entirely different last year,” Lewellen said. “I think that’s when [the new rule] will come into play more, but overall, I’m OK with anything aimed at keeping our players healthy.”
Warhill’s Joe Henzel, who like Ingram has been coaching baseball on the Peninsula since the 80’s at both the high-school and college level, is another Bay Rivers coach in support of the change. Henzel argues, though, that in order to fully protect the arms of pitchers and prevent injury, a similar system needs to be implemented at all levels of the sport, especially AAU and other travel ball squads, which have evolved into some of the most popular systems for young players.
“I fully support the new rule and believe it has definite merit,” Henzel said. “But I truly believe that all organized leagues need to look at something like this. I’ve seen kids come home from a weekend of playing travel ball having played three or four games and they can’t even pick up a baseball.
“If we really want to make sure we’re protecting young players from injury, then monitoring the use of their arms must be done at all levels. All it takes is that one situation where a kid turns it loose and pops a rotator cuff.
“I don’t want that happening on my watch.”
