Quote:
Originally Posted by jbergey22
Probably depends on how much effort the pitcher is putting into as well. You can watch Greg Maddux clips and watch Chapman pitch and you could just watch for 1 inning and realize who is really testing their arm limits a lot more. With the emphasis on pitchers throwing harder and getting more strikeouts it really tests the limits of professional pitchers limits. I have a hard time putting all the blame on overusage at younger ages because that has been going on for years(probably less now). 20-30 years ago I dont know that coaches had the slightest concern about pitch counts and usage of their younger pitchers at least now whether they follow pitch counts or not they are aware of potential issues harming the pitcher.
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Kids throw way more now. It's not even comparable to when I was a kid. The very best players 20-30 years ago were playing maybe 40-50 games a year if they were lucky. Now you have 14-15u teams playing upwards of 100-120 per year in some places. In Washington, where we're limited by weather, a serious team will play at least 50-60 games per year starting at 10u. That doesn't even get into the offseason training programs that didn't even exist then that are common now. For example, my son's offseason this year is July 19th (last game we played) to October 3rd (start of offseason training).
You also didn't have widespread tournament baseball where kids are throwing on no rest. I see teams play in a league plus a tournament nearly every weekend with the same kids getting the ball time and time again.