Major league teams often have a couple of relief pitchers ready to go into action. But I see college and HS coaches who don't start warming up relievers until the game pitcher is clearly in trouble. Sometimes the reliever gets only 10-15 bull pen tosses.

Apparently some coaches don't want to further spook their guy on the mound.

How should/do coaches handle this situation?

1) Wait to the last minute to warm up the reliever so as to show utmost confidence in the current pitcher

2) Have relievers warm up almost continuously to avoid further rattling the pitcher in tough situations

3) Start bull pen warmups whenever the pitcher is starting to get in trouble.... ideal for the reliever but perhaps further unnerving to the game pitcher

Great question. I would say #3 is your most practical approach. By the HS level a starting pitcher should understand that the idea is to give your team the best shot to win. Combine that with a clear communication on how/when you plan to bring in a reliever, then the starting pitcher shouldn't get rattled or un-nerved. I would think a reliever would need at least 30-40 pitches to warm up. I cetainly wouldn't wait til the bases are juiced and a base hit gives them the lead to warm up a reliever.

We carry an abundance of arms on our roster for all events so the starters know full well that they will see pitchers in the bullpen at the earliest sign of trouble---if they get uptight with that then they do not belong out there

Reasons why we do what we do

01-- we don't want to get in a deep hole which is tough to climb out of

02-- with the compressed schedule we can save innings with a quick hook rather than burn the pitcher in an early tournament game we can keep his pitch count down and he can return in a another game


03--we consider all our pitchers equal and each has a role---in fact the bullpen guys know before the game who will be the first second and thrid guy up

quote:

Originally posted by TRhit:
...if they get uptight with that then they do not belong out there...

Yep.

And I think HS faces a different set of challenges. I don't have the luxury of having a handful of kids who only pitch. Sometimes the kid I want to throw next may be playing SS or CF. If I bring him in in the middle of an inning he only gets 8 warm-up pitches. I don't really like that scenario. If the starter can finish off the inning I get that next guy throwing immediately while we hit, even if I have to pinch hit or run for the player getting loose.

If I have a pitcher sitting on the bench I tend to get him up when trouble brews. The last thing I worry about is how it would affect the guy on the mound mentally.

I firmly believe that HS coaches need, from day one of the season, to develop arms and not go thru the season with a minimum of arms

quote:

Originally posted by TRhit:
I firmly believe that HS coaches need, from day one of the season, to develop arms and not go thru the season with a minimum of arms

Very correct. Take the time to develop arms. It can never hurt you. The rules in our state are that we can work with P and C all year. So, we take advantage of that. Our kids long toss, work mechanics, throw bullpens (indoors), do arm strength programs (cords and lifting), etc.

This year we had 20 kids on the roster and 16 of them could pitch if we needed. I am not saying that they all were aces, but we had several kids that we could turn the ball over to and felt comfortable in doing so.

catching coach05

That is what I am saying---they may not be aces but they can give you a couple of innings and get you over the hump so to speak

quote:

Originally posted by ironhorse:
And I think HS faces a different set of challenges. I don't have the luxury of having a handful of kids who only pitch. Sometimes the kid I want to throw next may be playing SS or CF. If I bring him in in the middle of an inning he only gets 8 warm-up pitches. I don't really like that scenario. If the starter can finish off the inning I get that next guy throwing immediately while we hit, even if I have to pinch hit or run for the player getting loose.

Another option you have is this. If your starter is struggling and you are sure that you are going to your starting SS or CF next, keep them in and sub in another SS or CF. Then send that player to the pen to get loose and utilize the re-entry rule to have them come back into the game to pitch.

This eliminates the problem of only getting 8 warmup throws.

I think it's right on to develop more pitching in high school, but it really should start long before that. I would say the problem of coaches riding their best one or two pitchers is chronic in youth baseball. Who cares if a kid struggles at that level, it's a learning process where kids can be allowed to struggle (and hopefully respond in a positive manner).

I'm not saying kids should be forced to pitch if they don't want to, but I see no reason why every kid that is interested in pitching shouldn't be given a chance. Unfortunately, I think the coach's ego gets in the way, because they personally are unwilling to take on the greater risk of losing that comes with letting everyone get a shot on the mound. The game itself will weed out the weaker pitchers over time...there is no need for a coach to decide a 12 year old isn't a pitcher. Give him (or her) a shot, provide them with the best instruction possible, and see what happens.

quote:

Originally posted by CatchingCoach05:
The rules in our state are that we can work with P and C all year.

They need to get that rule going down here. That's a big advantage.