4 is too many pitchers for me unless you already know you will always (or almost always) have one missing. And missing players is much more of an issue in the fall with school sports, homecoming, SAT/ACT, etc. than it is in the main summer season. It's better to use subs in the fall to fill holes than it is to carry 4 pitchers through summer.
How Many is too many?
- Thread starter amakaa
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If/when you play three day tourneys and go far, sometimes having 4 is a nice thing. As I think most of us agree on, 3.5 pitchers is the ideal number to carry.
4 is hard to keep everyone fed and happy. 3 can be an issue if one is injured/out/not pitching well.
- Jun 8, 2016
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If helps if the parents of your best pitcher(s) are conscious of their kid being overused.
It's like a martini. Three is too many, and one isn't enough.
I can tell you we've never been happy with 3. Not vocally unhappy, but definitely internally so.
That's really the answer, isn't it? Basically like running backs - you need "a pair and a spare." Two you rely on and another there in case of emergencies. It's just hard to get sometime to sign up for that #3 role, so coaches have to lie to get that girl on the roster.
I was attempting to make a joke. I firmly believe most top teams need 3 pitchers minimum. If you're playing local rec tournaments with 8 teams in the bracket, you can get away with 2-3 pitchers, but the more prominent events tend to make you play many more games to win the event.
In a way, the 3-day ++ tourneys create the issue of keeping players on the bench because they are used as backups?
- Jun 8, 2016
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DD’s coach (2nd year 14’s) has a system where every kid will not play the field for at least one pool game over X pool games. If you are a good hitter you will usually hit though. Then in bracket, with 12 kids he has about 3 or 4 kids who play every other game. With this every position player gets at least to play at least 60-70% of the innings…pitchers might be a bit less than that. He is moving to 14 in the Spring (he wanted 14 in Fall but a few unexpected things happened) so X above will likely change and that 60%-70% might drop a bit. Team has 4 pitchers. Best might be one of the best pitchers in the state excluding college kids. Number 2 is a solid pitcher and 3 and 4 can win games against mediocre teams.
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16u/18u-4 is the magic number for a legit showcase team. Ideal would be and A/A and B/B. When you start getting deep into a bracket on hot summer days and early fall (sept) and are playing non timed 7 inning games back to back, you will need every pitcher you have. Sometimes you need to pitch 3 pitchers in one game. We went into TCS Nationals with 3 pitchers and 1.5 catchers. That was tough.
But if you are playing 70 minute drop dead. Sure 2 will do fine, if you are playing 2 games a day.
Fall season. OMG we had 18 players on the roster and never had all the players show up at the same time. College Visits, Camps, Homecoming Dance (Seniors only), SAT/ACT, weddings, sickness, etc.
My friend's team would pull out of tourneys if their number 1 pitcher had a conflict. Dad was pissed when they only played 4 events one summer.
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