NEW - LBC's Pitch Count System for 2023

Some of you have likely heard about this new implementation by LBC for the 2023 season, but to make sure the information put out is accurate, we will go into detail about such here. Yes, LBC will be implementing a Pitch Count System that is specific to our organization's teams, not USSSA, not Pitch Smart, etc. Coach Ralfs and I have spent a lot of time putting this together to not overly restrict our teams from winning while also forcing our coaches to spend more time developing quality arms from the bump. We have a saying, "let baseball people make baseball decisions." This is one of those decisions. Continue reading for more information.

NOT ENOUGH "DUDES" BEING PRODUCED

At the varsity level, we have seen a trend of a lot of youth pitchers that don't end up learning how to think like pitchers and pitch like pitchers. They are what we refer to as "throwers". This is where someone with a good arm can throw hard or maybe spot an off-speed pitch from time tot time, but beyond that, he's not a pitcher through and through. We believe this is due to years of youth baseball promoting throwing hard for easy, quick success in a tournament atmosphere while lacking in the mental and physical pitcher development side that requires proactive measures by the coaches and the player. This system should improve the likelihood of creating dudes while learning what a pitching rotation is and how to be a pitcher vs. a thrower.

PROTECT THE ARMS, EVEN IF IT COSTS YOU A TROPHY

We have also seen a few too many arm injuries in HS, but we are not directly associating that with pitch counts. My personal opinion is throwing mechanics first with pitch count second as a combination. Yet, we know that when it comes to a kid's arm health vs. win the tournament, some coaches are likely to put it all on the line for the trophy. This is where we first noticed a need for change. For pitchers, we should not ever put a trophy in front of arm health. If there is a place for that, it is when they are older, stronger, more mature mentally, and can make that decision for themselves. No youth baseball trophy is worth a future arm injury. Never.

WINNING IS IMPORTANT, BUT FUN IS EQUALLY IMPORTANT - BUILD LOVE FOR IT

Winning is very important in youth baseball, but so is the fun element. If kids do not find it fun just simply playing the game, regardless of winning or losing, those kids tend to phase out before varsity baseball. We've seen it far too often. When they get to the varsity level, they are now 1-3 years removed from dad and/or mom's over-the-shoulder parenting through youth sports, and then they seek the fun element. That fun needs to occur at a younger age, elementary school to be exact, and the winning will come later thanks to such foundation. This is where love for the game itself, not the competition. The connection here is that we want LBC to be the competition side through and through for our pitchers and everyone else. Fun will come with winning, developing, caring about the success of the team, etc. With LBC, of course the social aspect is fun for the boys.

THE DETAILS OF THE PITCH COUNT SYSTEM

Each LBC team will designate 8 pitchers from their lineup who they believe will throw the most innings for them this season. Each of those 8 will need to throw a minimum amount of pitches (or 1 inning, whichever occurs first) per every tournament, including state. There are also maximum pitch counts per tournament per age group. The only instance where a player can go over that total is to finish a batter, regardless of result. At USSSA State, each player will have an extra 10 pitches to use in addition to their tournament max, but they must be rested for 4 days prior to pitching those extra pitches. There will also be a mandatory required rest from pitching based on the weekend pitch count. This is shown in the graphic below. LBC Coaches will be required to record and report their pitchers' pitch counts per tournament to LBC and the HS Program. Gamechanger will be used for such, but a hard copy in Google Sheets will be used as well. LBC will have representatives out at many tournaments this year to make sure that all are abiding by the pitch count system - a checks & balances approach.

HOW DOES THIS AFFECT NORTH SCOTT LITTLE LEAGUE PLAY?

If you can do the math, if your son pitches during the weekend prior to either 1 or 2 Little League games, those days would fall on the LBC required rest days, so NO PITCHING IN NSLL. This is to improve the offensive side (fun) of NSLL while also preserving arms. We do NOT need LBC 2.0 in NSLL with LBC pitching duals. That's not fun for anybody except those pitchers and their head coaches (possibly their dads). So, it is our understanding and opinion that designated pitchers should not be pitching in NSLL games. Since this is a first-year-implementation, we will see how this changes NSLL quality of play, especially offensively, and how it affects LBC pitching with our kids having better rest prior to.