Cooper: Pitch counts matter, but proper mechanics more important for good health

When it comes to pitching, Don Cooper gets in a serious stance.

But when it comes to imposing a pitch count, Cooper often has to stop himself from laughing.

"So many people are so wrong about the reason a pitcher hurts his elbow, hurts his shoulder," said Cooper, who is nearing the end of his 14th season as the Chicago White Sox's pitching coach.

"They think if you're throwing too many pitches, too many innings, it's going to lead to a problem and that's it. I'm here to tell you it's not."

Cooper was asked for his thoughts on the Illinois High School Association advisory committee recommending a 115-pitch limit starting in 2017. High school pitchers who throw 115 pitches in a game also would be required to have four days of rest.

For the record, Cooper says it's a good rule.

"I think it's a good thing to protect kids from their coaches, from their parents," Cooper said. "And the less wear and tear, no matter what you're doing, the better."

When I first heard about the IHSA proposal, I immediately thought of Kerry Wood.

A high school phenom in Texas, and widely viewed as the next Nolan Ryan, Wood was drafted by the Chicago Cubs with the No. 4 overall pick in 1995. Two days later, Wood started both games of a playoff doubleheader for Grand Prairie High School and threw a combined 175 pitches.

Wood was a great pitcher for the Cubs, when he was healthy, but he needed Tommy John elbow surgery, and he also had surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff and labrum in his throwing (right) shoulder.

While Wood has some brilliant moments with the Cubs (20 strikeouts against Houston), his career didn't living up to all the expectations.

Were the injuries the result of Wood throwing too many pitches in high school? As Cooper said, the less wear and tear, the better.

But here is where Cooper's laughter came in - and it wasn't directed at Wood.

"You can hurt your elbow or shoulder throwing one pitch if you go out there with a poor delivery, with poor mechanics," Cooper said. "Again, that's where I think there is a lot of misinformation.

"I can teach a 12-year-old to throw a curveball, which is a big taboo at that age, and not have one physical problem. But first I would teach the proper mechanics, make sure the delivery is smooth. Get that down.

"There is no doubt in my mind that the majority of arm injuries, shoulder injuries, come from having poor mechanics."

Danny Wright agrees with Cooper.

Now a scout with the Philadelphia Phillies, Wright pitched for the White Sox from 2001-04. His career was cut short after a Tommy John procedure and two shoulder operations.

"I didn't have the best mechanics, and that ended up costing me," Wright said. "I remember being pretty violent with my throwing motion, and I tried to change it but never really got comfortable with it."

As a high school player in Arkansas and Tennessee, Wright said pitch counts were never a big deal.

"I also played football and basketball in addition to baseball, so it wasn't like I was throwing year round," Wright said. "I think a pitch limit is a good thing for high school kids, especially since so many of them are also playing in other types of travel league and showcase tournaments.

"Hopefully they can learn from me and make sure they're mechanically sound."

Different pitchers have different mechanics, and there are no guarantees when it comes to staying healthy.

Cooper, who has been in the Sox's organization for nearly 30 years, said he still remembers what he learned from the late Sammy Ellis, the White Sox's pitching coach from 1989-91.

"Sammy was a great major-league pitcher who had his career cut short by an arm injury," Cooper said. "Back when he pitched, when I pitched, if you got hurt chances were good your career was over. But Sammy was such a great influence on me because after he got hurt, he did a lot of research to find out why.

"Sammy taught me something that I still teach today when it comes to mechanics: Stand tall, stay back, stay closed."

Heading into 2016, the White Sox had used the disabled list 135 times for a total of 5,950 days during Cooper's tenure, the lowest injury totals in the major leagues.

Cooper gives trainer Herm Schneider, assistant trainer Brian Ball and conditioning coach Allen Thomas a lot of credit, but he also has had a big say in the team's pitching staff staying so healthy.

"We keep a close eye on pitch counts, and very rarely do you see us extend a guy to a limit we might consider dangerous," Cooper said. "But even at this level, we are always working on the delivery, making sure it's smooth, because we want our guys going out to the post every five days.

"Why pile on extra pitches when it's not necessary? If one of our guys goes down because we let him throw too many extra pitches, that's just like flushing money down the drain. We're not going to do it, and I think our track record speaks to that."