NFHS Rule Changes

[FightinIllini]

you are correct .....

[FightinIllini]

I think you guys are spot on in your assessment

 

​The top travel teams aren't the problem...the problem with the whole travel ball craze is little Johnnie's parents. Johnnie is an ok baseball player (nothing wrong with that), but his mommy and daddy think that they can hire pitching and hitting coaches for him and turn him into a high draft pick. Mommy and daddy also think that Mr. high school coach is sorta alright but Mr. travel coach is much better, whether he's their team of choices' coach or the dad of some other kid who couldn't make the "big name team" either.

   The reality is that for the few truly gifted kids, travel teams who showcase them against like teams where scouts and college coaches are concentrated serve a great purpose.

   The problem is that all these parents have created a demand, and there are people out there who will willfully take advantage of that, and some other well meaning but incompetent volunteers all too happy to oblige and take charge..."for the kids"...who don't care about, or aren't aware of the way to manage their well being. 

 

 

http://therecruitingcode.com/college-coaches-are-not-coming-to-your-high-school-games/

Just a thought on high school scouting versus travel and showcase. Take it how you will.

 

I do not see anything wrong with parents paying to play on travel teams.  If the player enjoys it and playing more will make you better.  I think the problem is with the expectations of the parents partly due to being ignorant about the college recruiting process and not really knowing how to navigate it.  Thus the "travel coach" comes along with all the answers, or at least he knows what the parents want to hear.  

 

The first thing one has to do is make the grades in high school, very important.  If that hurdle is jumped then get out a map.  Draw a circle as to how far you are willing to go to attend college. Then target schools in each class D1, D2, D3  etc... that you would be willing to attend if you were not playing baseball or had to stop.

 

Play high school ball, heck play travel ball, take lessons, but your sophomore year go to Perfect Game and get an honest eval of your talent and projection.  They sometimes miss a kid, but for the most part they are the best in the business.   

 

Once you know the level that you can play at target those schools with emails, and maybe a camp.

 

I say again 99% of high school players do not fully understand the commitment to play college baseball.  Now if you are in the top .5% then yes "they" will find you.... 

 

try and remember 

1.) get recruited

2.) commit

3.) sign NLI

4.) get accepted to the school

5.) maintain and 2.5 gpa for NCAA

6.) make the team in the fall

7.) make the travel team in the spring

8.) get on the game roster

 

Its long way to the if you want to rock and roll

 

too many parents think that if a college coach watches you play then that means a 100% scholarship 

[Borobaseball]

This rule is mandated by NFHS/TSSAA and should not be on the coaches to keep up with in my opinion.  TSSAA is just asking for problems if that's how it's going to be.  The field umpire should be keeping track of pitches then recording them for each pitcher as a game official/official pitch counter.  Field umpire should be watching every pitch anyway so don't see why they can't do the following

 

Write down pitcher's name and number along with pitches thrown each inning.  Communicate to both head coaches in between innings.  It's simple really and Little Leagues all across the country have been doing it for years.

 

You will have a coach in a close game against a rival school or two schools playing for something like district title and see what happens....one will have 90 and the other will have 100.

I bet "official pitch counters" will be used at Spring Fling so why not have "officials" do it all year long. Just my two cents

[davidlimbaugh]

This rule is mandated by NFHS/TSSAA and should not be on the coaches to keep up with in my opinion.  TSSAA is just asking for problems if that's how it's going to be.  The field umpire should be keeping track of pitches then recording them for each pitcher as a game official/official pitch counter.  Field umpire should be watching every pitch anyway so don't see why they can't do the following

 

Write down pitcher's name and number along with pitches thrown each inning.  Communicate to both head coaches in between innings.  It's simple really and Little Leagues all across the country have been doing it for years.

 

You will have a coach in a close game against a rival school or two schools playing for something like district title and see what happens....one will have 90 and the other will have 100.

I bet "official pitch counters" will be used at Spring Fling so why not have "officials" do it all year long. Just my two cents

A good base umpire will have his indicator with him. So now he has an indicator in one hand and a clicker in the other. A lot of clicking going on....  

[TryNotToSuck]

This rule is mandated by NFHS/TSSAA and should not be on the coaches to keep up with in my opinion.  TSSAA is just asking for problems if that's how it's going to be.  The field umpire should be keeping track of pitches then recording them for each pitcher as a game official/official pitch counter.  Field umpire should be watching every pitch anyway so don't see why they can't do the following

 

Write down pitcher's name and number along with pitches thrown each inning.  Communicate to both head coaches in between innings.  It's simple really and Little Leagues all across the country have been doing it for years.

 

You will have a coach in a close game against a rival school or two schools playing for something like district title and see what happens....one will have 90 and the other will have 100.

I bet "official pitch counters" will be used at Spring Fling so why not have "officials" do it all year long. Just my two cents

The umpires have no fight in the pitch count, and they shouldn't. Putting additional responsibility on the field umpires to keep a pitch count is useless, especially since a team manager or a Freshman that doesn't get any playing time can keep it, it's not hard. But to sit here and believe that a field umpire should keep up with two separate pitch counts is not the best scenario to go to. 

The responsibility should go to the coaches, and if one made a mistake, they'll ask their opponent. Coaches don't care, if one team makes a mistake and losses the pitch count by 3 pitches, the opposing team would probably careless and let those guy have the 3 pitches and move on. If the coaches aren't best buddies than the umpires would probably get involve and then we could have a protest so on and so on.

Will 3 additional pitches really give a pitcher Tommy John? An arm injury? A shoulder injury?

Yes, safety of the game is important, but when the coaches get used to this rule they can careless. Just because it's a rule doesn't mean it will be enforced. 

[DiamondDad]

Guys lets give up on the talks of umpires having anything to do with keeping track of the pitch counts in that game or previous games.

 

Here's how this will go - close play anywhere that goes against the home team. It extends the inning, runs score and HT loses the lead. Now at the end of that half inning you really want the guy who made that call to walk over to the dugout of the team seeing red to talk about pitch counts? 

 

That's just one problematic situation of many.  Dugouts/official scorers will track it just like they tracked post-season innings pitched rules in the past. If there's an issue, it'll be handled after the game by the people imposing the rules in the first place. 

[TryNotToSuck]

Guys lets give up on the talks of umpires having anything to do with keeping track of the pitch counts in that game or previous games.

 

Here's how this will go - close play anywhere that goes against the home team. It extends the inning, runs score and HT loses the lead. Now at the end of that half inning you really want the guy who made that call to walk over to the dugout of the team seeing red to talk about pitch counts? 

 

That's just one problematic situation of many.  Dugouts/official scorers will track it just like they tracked post-season innings pitched rules in the past. If there's an issue, it'll be handled after the game by the people imposing the rules in the first place. 

I'm not a big fan of the rule and here's why. 

 

There is this thing that is called 'extra stress pitches.' What I mean by that is when a defensive player makes an error that should've been an out, when 2 outs come, any pitch that is thrown becomes a 'stress pitch.' Add pitches to the pitch out.

 

That is the same that goes for umpires. When it is a 3-2 count 2 outs, ball 4 that should've been called a strike, any pitch after is a 'stress pitch.' Took the pitcher four pitches to get through the next batter, coaches will get mad because it added four pitches to the pitch count, which would be extremely valuable when May comes.

[glock22]

This is much ado about nothing IMHO.  How many HS pitchers truly end up with arm problems?

[SuperSport]

This is much ado about nothing IMHO.  How many HS pitchers truly end up with arm problems?

Thank Dr. Andrews

[concernedbobcat]

Several!

[glock22]

Parents need to focus on who is coaching their kids in the summer and the coach's qualifications more than pitch counts in HS.  Most HS coaches give a crap, most summer coaches????

[owl98]

I agree wholeheartedly it needed to be done. It will be a headache policing it at first. I can foresee teams having to have a pitch counter either behind the plate or on the scoreboard, Visible for all.