Youth Baseball Pitch Counts Vastly Underestimate High-effort Throws Throughout a Season.

BACKGROUND

The primary purpose of this study was to compare the number of pitches thrown by youth baseball players under the official league guidelines versus the number of "high-effort" throws recorded by a validated digital sensor worn by the players during a season.

METHODS

In total, 11 and 12-year-old youth baseball players from a single league were provided an elbow sleeve and sensor to wear each time they threw a baseball for an entire baseball season. The sensor tracked total throws and pitch-equivalent high-effort throws for the season. Official pitch counts were collected at each game from the official scorekeepers.

RESULTS

A total of 19 players participated in the study. The sensor-determined mean total throw count (1666.2±642.2) and mean high-effort throw count (576.9±329.3) per player were both significantly higher, P<0.0001 and P=0.02, respectively, than the mean official pitch count (168.1±122.4).

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings demonstrate that youth players make significantly more total throws and high-effort, or pitch-equivalent, throws, than what is recorded by the official pitch counts. Further research is needed to determine a safe annual "throw count" for young throwing athletes and to determine which types of throws, in addition to pitches, put youth throwers at risk for injury.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Level IV.