Youth Baseball Pitch Count

By Jeff Moree for YouthPitching.com

Keeping a pitch count for youth baseball pitchers is very important to protect the health of their arms. Failure to keep a pitch count can lead to overuse and eventually burn out, or even a very serious arm injury.

Most little leagues enforce a pitch count limit for the youth pitchers. These rules state that a pitcher is only allowed a certain number of innings per week, and they can only throw a certain amount of pitches in a certain number of days.

On the other hand, most travel teams don't abide by any pitch counts and as a result, the best pitcher on the team is often overused. This can lead to arm problems down the road and both physical and mental burnout. If your pitcher plays for a travel team, make sure that he is getting plenty of rest in between pitching outings.

Every league will have slightly different pitch count rules, but they all have a common theme. The younger a pitcher is, the less pitches he is allowed to throw in a game, and the fewer innings he is allowed per calendar week. As a pitcher gets older, he is gradually allowed to throw more pitches and more innings.

These precautions have been proven to protect youth pitchers' arms. All too often a player will be overused and will experience some sort of injury or mental burnout. As a parent, it is your job to make sure your player is receiving enough rest in between outings.