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Editorial: Limiting high school pitches a sensible start

Defending Cy Young Award winner Jake Arrieta this season has thrown 2,629 pitches in 26 games.

The math is pretty simple. He's throwing 101 pitches a game.

He's also being pulled, on average, after 6.4 innings.

Why? Because even though he is in his prime at 30 years old and at the top of his game, his coaches know better than to let him throw complete games until his arm falls off.

This is common sense to people in Major League Baseball, where huge money players like Arrieta have a lot more to offer a team with five days of rest and a fresh arm.

The act of pitching is a torturous thing. It does things to shoulders and elbows they were not made to withstand, even when it's an arm as plastic as a high school kid's that is doing the throwing.

The Illinois High School Association's baseball advisory committee this week came up with recommendations for reducing the number of pitches high schoolers are throwing during the season.

The committee concluded juniors and seniors should be limited to 115 pitches per day and that freshmen and sophomores be limited to 95.

The committee also will recommend a specific number of days rest between outings.

The IHSA is being forced to adopt limits because the National Federation of State High School Associations has demanded the state associations do so.

More young ballplayers, such as former St. Francis right-hander Ryan Hodgett from West Chicago, are having to undergo Tommy John surgery because of overuse.

In his 26 outings, Arrieta has only thrown 115 or more pitches once, when he threw 119 on April 21 to get his no-hitter against Cincinnati.

That, too, was his only complete game so far this season.

The pros baby their arms when they're not shredding them on the mound. They know the value and limits of their tools. But high schoolers, especially those with talent who aspire to the big leagues, play in summer and fall leagues, too. It was during a summer league tournament that Ryan's elbow popped.

In the wake of the recommendations, high school coaches are rightly questioning what can be done about non-high school leagues because kids need time to recuperate.

We question that, too. We also wonder whether allowing 115 pitches is too many. Time and statistics will tell.

The IHSA committee also is recommending rigorous record-keeping of pitches thrown. We expect the vast majority of coaches will follow the spirit of the rules, given that we trust them to protect rather than exploit our kids, but maintaining stats adds a measure of accountability.

Kids don't appreciate their limitations. They think they're indestructible. They like to please their parents, their coaches, their friends. So it's up to coaches to ensure that no matter the pitch count they recognize when a pitcher needs a break.

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