Fielder takes over on Mound without Warm Ups

[2manyBats]

Thoughts ...... I know we have a High School Pitch Count to "Protect" arms ... so I'd like your Opinions. ( 2 Arms on Bench - a reliever and a starter )

Last Night I watched a Position player take the mound Mid inning in a conference game without Off Field warm ups ? None - Zip - got his 6 or 8 warm ups throws.

The coach never stayed out for the completion of warm ups - since he calls pitches, How does he even know what pitches are working ?

I can't remember ever doing this myself or having a coach doing anything like that in travel.

[thePITman]

It's pretty regular. If a pitcher gets into trouble in the middle of an inning, you don't always have the luxury of having someone on the bench who can throw. And even in this case when you did, maybe he was saving those arms on the bench for a game later in the week, or knew a different pitcher would be more effective against certain batters. A lot of strategy goes into those decisions. If that player was playing in the field and properly warmed up, he should be in a position to be able to throw after his warmup pitches on the mound.

[tcgobucks]

Originally Posted by 2manyBats

Thoughts ...... I know we have a High School Pitch Count to "Protect" arms ... so I'd like your Opinions. ( 2 Arms on Bench - a reliever and a starter )

Last Night I watched a Position player take the mound Mid inning in a conference game without Off Field warm ups ? None - Zip - got his 6 or 8 warm ups throws.

The coach never stayed out for the completion of warm ups - since he calls pitches, How does he even know what pitches are working ?

I can't remember ever doing this myself or having a coach doing anything like that in travel.

That happens all the time, especially at smaller schools that may not have enough arms to always have a pitcher coming off the bench. My son was a SS and P in HS. If he thought there was any possibility of him throwing in a game where he was starting at SS he would warm up differently before the game than he would if he knew he wouldn't see the mound.

[cabezadecaballo]

Some kids are more "ready-to-go" than others in relief. As others have said, he did have some warm-up as a position player.

It really depends on the kid, and I'm sure the Coach knows him a lot better than I do. I couldn't begin to second-guess the move. I can think of a few kids that would be just fine.

How did it shake out for him ?

[Flood]

Originally Posted by 2manyBats

Thoughts ...... I know we have a High School Pitch Count to "Protect" arms ... so I'd like your Opinions. ( 2 Arms on Bench - a reliever and a starter )

Last Night I watched a Position player take the mound Mid inning in a conference game without Off Field warm ups ? None - Zip - got his 6 or 8 warm ups throws.

The coach never stayed out for the completion of warm ups - since he calls pitches, How does he even know what pitches are working ?

I can't remember ever doing this myself or having a coach doing anything like that in travel.

Totally common in terms of a position player as a reliever. Happens a lot.

[micketty]

Common or not its poor coaching. Think ahead and be prepared. I was speaking with a varsity player a few days ago and he was telling me that a senior that had pitched in the past but was their team's everyday ss had not thrown off a mound all preseason or up to that point in the season. No bullpens, no flat grounds, nothing. Saw that the kid pitched an inning in relief twice in the past five days. The beauty of it all.

[cabezadecaballo]

Originally Posted by micketty

Common or not its poor coaching. Think ahead and be prepared. I was speaking with a varsity player a few days ago and he was telling me that a senior that had pitched in the past but was their team's everyday ss had not thrown off a mound all preseason or up to that point in the season. No bullpens, no flat grounds, nothing. Saw that the kid pitched an inning in relief twice in the past five days. The beauty of it all.

That scenario is a little different.

Just mop-up time, I hope.

[micketty]

Nope, brought him each time for a save. I have no clue if what the kid told me was correct but the conversation occurred before the kid pitched at all. Just thought it to be funny that everyone that commented was okay with the fact that a kid can come in and throw without any sort of warming up. I guess those four warmup tosses from right field to the dh between innings constitutes a bullpen session.

[CanofCorn]

Very common thing in HS games. Alot of guys of at smaller schools pull both duties. How do you know that the kid they brought is not a regular pitcher for them? 6-8 pitches is not really gonna tell the pitching coach much anyways. You are also guessing that the starter on the bench hasn't pitched or is gonna make the next start.

[2manyBats]

Alot of great points ....... but it was

Hard to watch -- Walked first kid - Way behind on next ..... add to that the New replacement infielder has a ball go threw legs & 2 more errors on ground balls - 4 Runs

seems like after a few more throws he looked better -

35 Plus pitches to get 2 Outs & out of inning

I agree ...... someone should always be ready to go in .... Look ahead and be prepared otherwise its Poor Coaching

[cabezadecaballo]

If the coach learned something about his players, I guess it wasn't a total loss.

Both of my younger sons play positions and pitch. They would need a proper warm-up to have command. I've seen two kids at least that would probably be just fine against most HS hitters doing that, though.