I was asked this question yesterday but I don't have a clue. How many pitchers should there be on a college roster? Is it different in D-I to D-III and JUCOs? We've all heard the comment: "You can never have too much pitching". What about the developing pitchers trying to get some experience. Should pitchers consider the number of pitchers on the roster and if so, should they only consider those that throw from the same side? (RHP or LHP)
??
Fungo

Good question. At my sons JUCO last year there were 8 fulltime and 4 parttime pitchers. Also, there were 8 RHP's and 4 LHP's. I'm sure that in a coaches eyes there never will be to many pitchers on a team. Pitchers don't think like that, at least mine didn't. If your not in the top 5 forget about it. If your a fulltime pitcher who's not pitching it tends to get under your skin.

JUCO's are different from 4 year schools. You only have a year to prove yourself.

Any pitcher, or player for that matter, headed to college should be checking last years rosters and who was signed for the upcoming year.

JMHO

I have seen rosters with 12 to 14 arms

They have pitchers for weekend games, conference, and weekday games , non conference

By all means check the rosters and also see how the pitchers are used-- do they have starters, middle men and closers? Do they overwork the pitchers?

BoydsWorld keeps an interesting list of pitching stats. Check out the "Pitcher Abuse Points" section of the "Filing Cabinet". If the school you are interested in appears too frequently in here it might be indication of how they use their pitchers.

http://www.boydsworld.com/

A D1 coach once told me that the "rule of thumb" is that approximately 1/2 of the total roster be made up of pitchers. Keep in mind, though, that it's rarely the case that everyone on the roster is healthy, eligible, adequately developed, etc. It's not unusual for a roster of,say, 15 pitchers to be reduced to 8-10 who are really ready to throw on a consistent basis.

I know one school we reviewed last year had 17 pitchers returning with half receving plenty of time on the mound...

school did give son an offer...but this 17 did not even include any freshman pitchers who were being recruited...

it played an important part in his decision...at least in the scheme of things to consider

I believe pitchers should consider the number of pitchers, and, as BK did, check to see if freshmen are given the opportunity to pitch in order to factor that into their decision.

I also believe LHPs should check the number of LHPs, as that will probably have an impact on their mound time, whatever the program's habit on the use of freshman pitchers.

Half pitchers is about normal. Sons school had no lefties last year and they signed 6 LHPS for this year.

There were 4 or 5 more pitchers redshirted or rehabbing last year and not on the roster.

I think between the returning players, redshirts and new kids there are about 20 pitchers in camp before the walk-ons.

Look at the schedule....rule of thumb two arms per each individual game. You can see this with MLB teams since they play six to seven games in a week their pitching staffs number 12 to 14 pitchers.

Usually 4 to 5 starters, 3 to 5 mid-relievers, 2 setup, and 2 closers.

Fungo, very interesting question. I think there are variables from DI to DIII and even variables between Northern and Southern teams. Especially for the DIII teams in the North, they carry more pitchers and more see playing time. Their season starts later and when it does they usually play 6-8 days in a row in the South or West. When they return North, many will play 5-6 games per week in April/May to get a full season in and then they have playoffs where they may play 5-6 games in 3 days. Southern DIII's play more like a DI schedule with usually 1 midweek and 3 weekend games but they also have tournments. DIII also plays more 7 inning games as part of weekend doubleheaders. In the South I think most teams carry 12-14 pitchers and 7-8 get the vast majority of innings. In the North I think they carry the same number of pitchers but most of the 12-14 will see a lot of innings.

In the big conferences, there are more pitchers than a recruit may care to see. By the time playoffs roll around, getting cut short really hurts the team.
I would be concerned with too few pitchers than too many. However, some schools are now using position players as pitchers, though they are not listed on the roster that way. More economical. It has worked for some schools, but in the end, they need to rely heavily on those that are pitchers only.

At my D1 school we have (I think) 15 pitchers on the roster, which is about what it has been the last 2 or so years (that I know of). About 10-13 of these will make the travel team, and 7-10 of them will get significant playing time.