Pitch counts: Baseball coaches offer feedback on new GHSA rules

The 2017 baseball season is not even a week old yet, but Brookstone coach Vincent Massey has already witnessed changes to his coaching strategy courtesy of the GHSA.

The GHSA’s new pitching regulations regarding pitch counts and required days of rest meant Massey would have to get creative early on thanks to a game Friday against Jordan and one Saturday versus Carver.

Between those two victories, Massey sent six different pitchers out to the mound. Massey said the use of so many pitchers was a direct result of the association’s new policies.

“We had some guys step up today with this pitch count rule,” Massey said. “When you have back-to-back days (with games), you have to look at different pitchers to come out and get a job done. We threw three guys yesterday and three guys today, and they all did a pretty good job.”

The association’s rules handed down in August placed new restrictions regarding pitch counts and required rest days for pitchers. No varsity pitcher can exceed 110 pitches in a given game and must rest three days before pitching again if he has thrown at least 86 pitches. Players who throw between 61 and 85 pitches must rest for two days, while those who throw 36-to-60 pitches must rest for one day.

Upon first violation, the coach will be subject to a $250 fine and a two-game suspension.

With the season just now underway, coaches are still feeling out the new rules from the GHSA. The restraints on pitchers won’t be much of a concern in the first few weeks, but once region play begins it is sure to become heavily scrutinized.

Regardless, the coaches are still paying close attention, using their first few games to get a feel for the new guidelines and how to work properly within them.

“We’re all learning here,” Hardaway’s Chris Gilstrap said. “We’re just trying to figure out what we’re doing, what we’re supposed to be doing and how it’s all going to managed.”

In Columbus head coach Chad Mathis’ opinion, the GHSA’s new rules means a typical high school team must have three starters along with several relievers.

“It’s going to show what you’ve got,” Mathis said. “It’s going to make teams put their right fielder or shortstop or somebody else to be a pitcher just to make sure you can get through the pitch count, especially when region play starts.”

Mathis emphasized that it’s too early to accurately gauge the rules. The early goings, however, have shown that the growing pains are on both sides of the equation.

To implement the pitch count rules, the GHSA sends a pitch count monitor to every game. The monitors sit in the stands and may communicate with the coaches but are not responsible for informing coaches of when a player is reaching a certain limit. Monitors are then required to report the number on the GHSA’s site by 9:00 a.m. the next morning to serve as reference for coaches on both sides.

The first few games have already featured some kinks in that process, according to Northside’s Dee Miller said.

“Some of the inconsistencies of how the process is going to be run has created some gray area as far as getting all the correct documentation to who needs it,” Miller said. “We played Newnan (on Thursday). None of their pitchers’ pitch counts had been logged. I didn’t know who they could throw that game, and their coach now can’t look back to that website as a reference.”

The work-in-progress nature of the rule’s enforcement was bound to happen given it was only put in place six months ago. Still, it leaves some coaches to wonder if waiting another year would have been the best option.

“I don’t necessarily like the way the Georgia High School Association handled it as far as bringing it on us leading up to the season,” Gilstrap said. “In my opinion, in order to put something like that on us, I think it should have been proposed and then enforced maybe the following season in order for everyone to prepare for it.”

Gilstrap added that he sees the GHSA’s push for the rule reflects its importance to the governing body. Personally, he leaned more toward a 120-pitch limit like Alabama’s rule, saying it could be a disadvantage in the times Georgia teams travel across the state to play.

In truth, Gilstrap was more in favor of no rule at all.

“As a coach, your No. 1 priority is the well being of your players,” Gilstrap said. “Our staff does a good job of taking care of arms and our pitchers and our players’ health in general. I don’t feel the need for someone to micromanage what we need to do, but not everybody has the same thought process that our coaching staff does.”

Like it or not, the rules are in place, leaving the coaches to work within their framework.

Mathis said the rule’s impact will be the most obvious down the stretch of the season, particularly in the playoffs. He said it could prove frustrating in the postseason when a starter in the first game of a series cannot come back for the third game, thereby not allowing him to finish what he started.

In the meantime, Mathis and the rest of the state’s coaches are left with a new learning curve to dissect before the stakes of the season are raised.

“That’s their rule, and we’ve got to abide by it,” Mathis said. “I think it was put in place to protect these kids’ arms, but it’s a new experience for us. Right now, we’ve got to go with the flow.”

This story was originally published February 19, 2017 at 2:17 PM with the headline "Pitch counts: Baseball coaches offer feedback on new GHSA rules."