Does modern day infatuation with “pitch counts” really help to prevent arm injuries?
The question mentioned above opens up many new questions to ponder. To quickly answer it, I will say that preserving a player’s arm goes much deeper than tracking and monitoring their pitch count. Any casual baseball fan will tell you that if a starting pitcher is around 85 to 100 pitches, he is “fatigued” or ready to come out. While this sometimes can be the case, it is not always. This way of monitoring the amount pitches a player throws and making decisions heavily based on that number seems to be engrained in the new wave of baseball thinking. Sure, the eye test still plays a large part but too often managers overly rely on this number to aid them in their own perceived eye test.
Historically speaking, there is no doubt that the “eye test” needed to be improved upon and pitchers needed to be taken better care of. Starters were tasked with eating up 7,8,9 innings night in and night out with no real basis for arm fatigue. Through the five-man rotation, enhanced bullpens, pitch count monitoring, and increased muscle development, pitchers are now more nurtured than ever. Pitchers are stronger and more conditioned yet throw less innings. This is due to management, players and their families being much more informed around the anatomy, science, and stress levels of each component in the arm. Fatigue due to high pitch counts, limited rest, or an overload of high leverage pitches can be compounding on the elbow/ shoulder. This much is obvious, yet, workloads have decreased dramatically and major injuries have not slowed down. This leads one to believe that there is more to the equation than simply tracking pitch count and ensuring scheduled rest.
Tommy John surgeries continue to be on the rise despite focus in not overly exerting a pitcher beyond their comfort level and following perceived norms mentioned in the introduction. Not all pitches are equal, not all pitchers are equal. This makes every pitcher unique and managers must handle them as so. This is why Bruce Bochy is one of the best managers of all-time in my opinion. He is a bit old-school with and relies less on the pitch count than some of his counterparts. The obsession should no longer be around a number but more focused on the type of player, what pitches he throws and how speedy his body type recovers. There are a few pitchers in the league that I believe should not even be monitored by a pitch count whatsoever while there are others that clearly start to hit a wall and need to be pulled more quickly.
How do you determine a pitcher’s optimal pitch count and workload? There are some that seek to adopt a more unconventional approach (think Tampa Bay Rays with their opener strategy), and others that see it as cut and dry (think Houston Astros and their strong 5-man rotation). It is important to quickly determine what role a pitcher should be in as well as what kind of workload is best. This will give the pitcher a strong opportunity for success and good health. When doing this, pitch count should not be the main source of information on arm stamina.
Injury prevention is on the forefront of manager’s minds in today’s game and as a result they are often too conservative in their handling of a pitcher. The way to take care of players arm at the highest level has much less to do with pitch count and much more to do with youth development. Tommy John was quoted as saying “It’s what you did down the road when you were younger. … In essence, the injury itself is a buildup of overuse. And not overuse as an adult, but overuse as a kid.” This is where pitch count plays a vital rule. For youngsters, it limits the damage that can be done to an arm at an early stage. It takes the control away from a person who may not have the players future in mind. A young developing arm should be nurtured and grown in a proper manner. Excessive violent rotation in the elbow and shoulder can be detrimental to an underdeveloped muscle. It is clear that the baseball world should do everything it can to nurture young developing arms but an established professional arm should not be hindered by a pitch count.