Pitching Rotation

What kind of pitching rotation is being used at your high school?

How many legitimate pitchers does your team have?

How many are actually being utilized?

Which is monitored more, innings or pitches?

 

this year we are lucky enough to have 3 starters 2 for conference and 1 non-con. along with that we have two legite relievers. we also have a couple of guys for mop up duty. usually we have 2 starters and 1 relief guy.
we worry or monitor pitches more than innings (along with the performance of each inning.

 

Pitching rotation is going to be based on the talent number of quality pitchers a team has...most teams are lucky if they have 2 quality "starters"....3 would be a blessing. Last year the innings on my son HS team were pretty evenly distributed between 3 pitchers.

I think most coaches look at the "pitch count" and not the "inninngs pitched".

 

Rotation

South Caldwell has had some good pitchers come through their program, but they have never been this deep (4 guys that could be #1 on most HS pitching rotations). However they traditionally use a couple of guys sparingly for some non-conference games or in a 3 game week, but are notorious for riding 2 arms. We'll have to wait and see it how it plays out this year.

 

Too much of a good thing?

Not really, to have the arms that South Caldwell has is a blessing, but can be a challenge to figure out how best to use them. The real benefit to having four horses instead of two is tournament and series formats. So come playoff time if you have four arms in playoff shape, you are standing tall.

 

The early part of the year before conference games start it is handled alot differently. Usually we have two guys ready for each game. Alot of times we just throw a kid for about 60 pitches and then bring in the next guy. As we get into the warmer part of the year and the conference games roll around we settle into a rotation. It varies from year to year how many quality arms you have and how many kids will actually be in the rotation. We play 2 or three games every week and this year mostly 3 games a week. We have four guys that we feel pretty good about and then a fifth guy that can burn some innings for us. As far as monitoring innings vs pitches I have never thought innings were important. Its the amount of pitches they throw that matters especially with younger guys and early in the year. We have always used the non conference schedule as a way to build pitching depth and find out who can and who can not get the job done. We know our #1 and #2 are going to be ok. What we need to do is see how #3 #4 and #5 are going to handle game situations and how effective they will be against quality competition. JMHO

 

Planned Splits

What do you think about planned splits where 4 pitchers would throw every week, alternating starting & relieving roles?

 

closer?

has HS baseball evolved enough to have a true closer?

 

closer

we use a closer. basically he's one of those kids who throws hard. control is ok but doesn't have much endurance. when he was a starter he could go maybe 3 innings, and thats if one of the three was a quick inning. so we just said go out and get us two innings a week, maybe three.

 

Come on guys. Let's not lie. Everyone knows that we coaches just pick a name out of a hat and put him on the mound and hope for the best. When he gets tired we just repeat the process. HAHA... Sorry, just needed some humor on this rainy day.

I think Coach 27 said it best. In the non-conference games you want to give your pitchers a chance to show what they have. Innings are not the big issue. Pitch count and sharpness (location, signs of fatigue, etc...) are the key signs to look for early in the season. Once conference play (and hopefully the warmer weather) begins then you expect your guys to go as long as you need them. And you should have a good idea on what they can and can't handle. Just my opinion.