Area coaches discuss pitch count rule one year in

Weather issues caused some problems when it came to the District 4-AAA baseball tournament this season, resulting in Farragut, who ultimately played Maryville for the championship, having to play five games in five days.

In the regular season, the TSSAA’s new pitch count rule did not have any effect on the way the program operated, but that changed come postseason play.

“It just puts you in a bit of a bind,” Farragut coach Matt Buckner said. “From a pitching standpoint, it was extremely tough in an eight-team district like we have.”

Pitching limits

On Wednesday, the TSSAA Board of Control revised some of the pitch count rule regulations, including a hard cap on 120 pitches — last season a pitcher could finish a batter after accumulating the maximum 120 — not allowing pitchers to throw more than two consecutive days and adding a fourth day of rest for pitchers who toss 106-120 pitches in an outing.

Previously, the TSSAA utilized an innings pitched rule, stating that pitchers were not allowed to throw more than 10 innings over a two-day span.

No Knoxville-area coach is against looking out for the well-being of the athletes. For most, it’s something they have been aware of well before the rule.

At Grace Christian Academy, there is a chart in the locker room that has been there over the past four years that tracks pitch counts and keeps players updated on how to recover.

“I’m an arm care freak,” Grace Christian coach Mitchell Turner said. “We do long toss year around, we do band work, we do conditioning and, knock on wood, we don’t have arm injuries at Grace because we care about the kids more than baseball.”

The question becomes how you balance health and competition, which can be difficult when you’re trying to win amid a 40-plus game season that takes a little more than two months to complete.

“A lot of us coaches have been everywhere and played, and when we go to Alabama, Florida or Georgia, a lot of those teams literally only have two pitchers because they only play two games a week and are afforded a lot more time to play out their season,” Bearden coach John Rice said. “We rush a whole season into roughly eight-and-a-half, nine weeks and we all use a plethora of pitchers.”

Navigating the playoffs

The difficulties with the rule do not surface during the regular season, but in the postseason.

In Farragut’s case, the district tournament was an obstacle that had some part in the Admirals failing to reach the state tournament for the first time in 10 years. Under the new regulations, it would have been even worse.

“I thought the rules that we had in place this year were pretty fair,” Buckner said. “They make it hard in the postseason, but it is tough for everybody. But compared to other states, I thought they were pretty fair and I was OK with them. Now, I think we’ve gone a little bit overboard.”

Some of the postseason dilemma could be fixed by adding an off day or two, which both Rice and Buckner said the coaches of District 4-AAA will be sure to schedule in next year. That, however, is not an option come Spring Fling.

Another issue stems from an inconsistency in monitoring pitch counts statewide. The TSSAA Board of Control tabled a discussion over the matter until August.

“It’s an honor system and some guys are more honorable than others,” Rice said. “That’s one of the fallacies that exists in this current plan because we’re counting on hundreds of coaches to do their due diligence, but there is no real oversight.”

Nonetheless, programs are going to have to adjust.

“I think the intent of the TSSAA is to protect the coaches, and so I applaud them for that,” Rice said. “They’re trying to make sure that we don’t have moms and dads saying that we’ve overpitched kids. It gives us an umbrella of protection.

“… I think any program can overcome any kind of stipulation if we’re all playing under the same umbrella.”