Pitch count forces teams to adjust
The sun was setting and the Canal Winchester baseball team was headed to extra innings in a scoreless game against Big Walnut on April 3.
Ryan Glauner, the Indians’ starting pitcher, wasn’t thinking about any of those details. The senior righthander had not allowed a base runner, and he had an answer ready for head coach Tyler Kuhn and pitching coach Doug Stinson if they dared tell him he was coming out of the game.
“Coach Stinson said that I was done,” Glauner said. “I said, ‘Coach, no way you are taking me out.’ I told him that I could throw five more innings. I was amped.”
Glauner won his argument, but he got neither his victory nor his perfect game. The game was suspended by darkness after 8 innings with Glauner having thrown 108 pitches.
In previous years, Glauner would have been eligible to pitch another 1 innings when the teams picked up their suspended game the
next day. The prior limit was 10 total innings in a three-day period.
This season, though, the Ohio High School Athletic Association adopted a national federation rule limiting pitchers to 125 pitches in a day. Also, pitchers who throw more than 30 and fewer than 125 pitches in a game are subject to mandatory rest (see accompanying chart).
But Kuhn was taking no chance with one of his top pitchers. Luke Williamson relieved Glauner when the game resumed, and the Indians won 1-0 in 12 innings.
Kuhn, in fact, did not have Glauner pitch again for 13 days.
“That’s the pro ball in me,” said Kuhn, who played seven seasons in the minor leagues as an infielder in the Chicago White Sox, Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies organizations.
“I saw how the teams I played on had the pitchers go about their business. They were so careful. One hundred pitches is a number we try to stay under.”
Glauner has no gripes about the rule.
“I’m sure my arm would have felt like death, but I could have gone at least one inning,” he said. “Really, you would have thought this rule would have been in a long time ago. It makes sense.”
Olentangy senior Berto Carselle said he needed maximum effort while throwing 96 pitches in a 5-3 victory over Westerville Central on April 10.
“People say I have a rubber arm, but I think the pitch count is a good idea because a lot of people can abuse it,” he said. “Too many pitches can wear down the arm, and you never know when it will give out.”
Carselle said he has come to appreciate knowing where he stands when he pitches.
“I come back (to the dugout) and say, ‘That was a long inning, how many did I throw?’” he said.
Jonathan Alder senior Cal Duckworth said that each pitcher’s makeup is different, so he places his trust in the coaching staff and trainer.
“They know what each pitcher is capable of doing,” he said. “We don’t pitch on back-toback days. We always know our pitch count. I threw 112 pitches against River Valley, and that was it for me. I was fine — sore, but fine.’’
DeSales coach Tom Neubert and Jonathan Alder coach Craig Kyle said the pitch count could become a factor come tournament time. The district tournament begins May 15.
“I don’t think we ever needed a pitch count in high school, and it hasn’t come into play so far, but I understand it because you are seeing more and more kids with arm injuries,” Neubert said.
“The tournament will be a whole different deal. In some of those games, teams will use two, three and four pitchers. In the regional and states, you can play back-to-back days. You will need at least three starting pitchers.”
What makes the pitch count difficult, Kyle said, is teams in Ohio having to “squeeze in” 27 regular-season games from March 25 until May 4, the day before the sectional tournament starts.
“We’ve got five weeks to get our regular-season games in, and that’s tough on the players,” Kyle said. “The states that border us — Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky and Pennsylvania — have longer seasons.’’
The state baseball coaches association has asked the OHSAA to consider extending the season by two weeks. OHSAA director of communications Tim Stried said the proposal is in the discussion stage and, if passed, is unlikely to take effect for 2018.