This spring, high school baseball players will have to follow a new national mandate that requires coaches to hold their players to pitch counts.
Rush University Medical Center physicians Brian Forsythe, MD, Anthony Romeo, MD, and Gregory Nicholson, MD, also gave their support to the mandate.
Here's what you should know.
1. The trio of physicians is urging high school coaches to limit pitchers to 90 to 95 pitches a game for 15- and 16-year-old players and to 105 pitches per game for 17- and 18-year-old players.
2. They'd also like to see limits on ball speed and the enforcement of mandatory rest time and pre-season strength-training exercises.
3. The physicians have completed a series of studies on the health of young throwing athletes and have found that high school pitchers are pitching too much without proper recovery time.
4. Over the past five years, the doctors have seen a significant increase in young pitchers coming to their office with shoulder and elbow conditions.
5. Dr. Romeo said, "On average, only 1 percent of high school baseball players will be drafted into Major League Baseball. Since shoulder and elbow injuries may lead to chronic injuries later in life, it is important to educate ball players and parents that the risks sometimes outweigh the benefits."
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