Pitching a numbers game

Pitchers are interesting people.

During the baseball season, you’ll find a baseball somewhere nearby and, if you watch them for a while, you may just see them go through a throwing motion when they think no one is watching.

It’s just something they do.

Getting them ready for the high school season takes a deft hand that knows when to call it a day.

At East Valley, coach John Phelan is a former pitcher who keeps his hurlers’ best interest in mind.

“I can honestly say that I have only left one pitcher in a game longer than I thought I should, but it was my own son,” he said, referring to his son, J.T., who now plays linebacker at Whitworth. “It was my own son and that’s the only reason I did it. I would never do it with someone else’s kid. But it didn’t work. He gave up a hit and we lost anyway.”

As a former pitcher himself, Phelan knows first-hand just how bad an arm can hurt. So he keeps his pitchers on strict pitch counts.

At West Valley, second-year coach Cory Aitken, a former lefty, uses the school’s trainer to both help treat arm pain and help teach them the difference between normal pain and actual injury.

“Having that resource available is a big help,” Aitken said. “She has specialized experience treating the kids and it’s one less thing for me to juggle.”

Both coaches say their primary pitchers and returning starters tend to get in a great deal of throwing indoors starting in December.

“There are a bunch of good facilities around town, and good programs, that can help them get ready for the season and build up arm strength,” Phelan said. “The most important thing for me is maintaining these kids’ health. When a kid has reached his pitch count limit, no matter what the situation is, he comes out and the next kid goes in. If we lose the game, we can make it back up – especially this time of year. I will always err on the side of caution.”

For both coaches, that also means keeping a tight rein on what pitchers throw.

“Especially in the beginning of the season, we want our kids to just throw fastballs and change-ups,” Aitken said. “We don’t want them working on curveballs until later.”

At EV, Phelan is even more of a fastball/change-up fan.

“You really don’t need a curveball to be effective at this level,” he said. “But if you can throw your fastball for strikes and work in an effective change-up, you’re going to do just fine.

“We want to work on their mechanics and make sure they’re releasing the ball properly. That’s more important.”

Both coaches agree teaching pitchers the proper mental approach is key.

“We work on that a lot,” Phelan said. “Even late in the season, when we’ll send a starter out there with a 100-pitch limit, that kid is going to want to go as deep into that game as he can, so they start to understand how important it is throw a first-pitch strike. If you throw first-pitch strikes, you can have two-pitch, three-pitch at-bats. If you throw first-pitch balls, most of the time you’re looking at four-six-eight pitch at-bats.

“Two-pitch at-bats are better than eight-pitch at-bats.”

Aitken agrees.

“That’s the thing these kids need to learn,” he said. “The smart pitchers are always harder to hit against.”