Nearly 10 years ago, Little League® developed its Pitch Count regulations to help curb the risk of overuse injuries to young pitchers. West Sugar Land Little League actively monitors the overuse of our young players by requiring both teams to track Pitch Counts during the games for all pitchers and for managers to report those pitch counts when submitting game results.
Pitch Count Regulation from littleleague.com
Pitch Count Log Template
SPECIAL NOTE: Players who catch for for more than three (3) innings (3 innings plus one pitch or more) MAY NOT pitch in the same game. Furthermore, players who throw 41 pitches or more MAY NOT play the catcher position in the same game.
Little League regulations for Pitch Count and Days of Rest are as follows:
Pitch Count Limits per game
Pitchers with the following league ages have the following pitch count limits:
| League Age |
Pitch Count Limit |
| 17-18 |
105 pitches per day |
| 13 -16 |
95 pitches per day
|
| 11 -12 |
85 pitches per day |
| 9-10 |
75 pitches per day |
| 7-8 |
50 pitches per day |
Pitchers and Rest
Situation: Player “A” pitches “X” pitches on Saturday. Player “A” is eligible to pitch again on:
| X Pitches |
Days Rest |
Rest Days |
Eligible to Pitch On |
| 1 to 20 |
0 |
|
Sunday |
| 21 to 35 |
1 |
Sunday |
Monday |
| 36 to 50 |
2 |
Sunday, Monday |
Tuesday |
| 51 to 65 |
3 |
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday |
Wednesday |
| 66 or more |
4 |
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday |
Thursday |
Regulation VI (d) was modified in 2013, clarifying that:
EXCEPTION: If a pitcher reaches a day(s) of rest threshold while facing a batter, the pitcher may continue to pitch until any one of the following conditions occurs: 1. That batter reaches base; 2. That batter is retired; 3. The third out is made to complete the half-inning. The pitcher will only be required to observe the calendar day(s) of rest for the threshold he/she reached during that at-bat, provided that pitcher is removed before delivering a pitch to another batter
An example of this would be:
Pitcher starts an at-bat having thrown 32 pitches prior to the first pitch to the current batter. The pitcher completes the at-bat by striking out the batter, throwing an additional 5 pitches. His pitch count at the end of the at-bat is 37, but since he reached the 35 pitch threshold during the at bat, Regulation VI (d) EXCEPTION applies, meaning he will only have to observe 1 day of rest. If the pitcher continues to pitch to the next batter, throwing one official pitch, he will have to observe two (2) days of rest.
THEREFORE IT IS IMPORTANT TO CLEARLY MARK THE END OF EACH AT-BAT AS WELL ON THE PITCH COUNT SHEET
Sample Pitch Count Sheet from the example above:
Pitches thrown grayed in, dark line signifies end of at-bat.