Pitching Rules & Substitutions

Question
John, Babe Ruth baseball has in my mind a rule that puts kids in danger of injury but I cannot get anyone on the local or national level to listen. They allow a starting pitcher to return in the game if they have not completed their allowable innings. with no pitch count rule I saw many children last year throw 70-80 pitches in two innings (not including the 20-30 warm up pitches), go to the out field for 3 innings, throw another 20 warm up pitches and finish off the 6th inning with another 15-20. That is over 100 throws for a 12 year old child. Why don't people (parents, coaches, Cal Rikpin) realize that this abuse is out there and there are many things that can be done to change this. Any recommendation would be appreciated. Thank you!

Answer
Hi Steve,

You're right, there should be a pitch count ruling for younger pitchers.  Later, good coaches will take care of their pitchers and follow the count but for the younger ones, I doubt very much that coaches even keep count.

All you can do is continue to raise your concern and eventually other parents/coaches will join in your cause.  You may want to approach leagues and see what they suggest or recommend.

In our league, once a pitcher is removed you can't place him/her back into the game as pitcher for any reason.  Perhaps this would be the rule to apply instead of the allowable innings rule.

Regards,

JohnMc