How many pitchers is too many?

[JAD]

The true answer is you can never have enough pitching, the question is, how many do you need to keep the pitcher an her parents happy.

At the younger age groups we had 2, and if we were lucky, a third who could also play another position and/or hit.

At 14U we starting carrying 3, 4 if we were lucky, especially if one or two couple play another position and hit.

At 16U/18U we carrying 4, 3 primary and one utility, who can hopefully play another position and hit.

 

[Softball scholar]

At 16U and 18U and even 14u, 4 pitchers is too many. It creates drama. Not enough pitching time. You might get away with it if one pitcher is position player and does it as a hobby.

 

[29dad]

Ok - a little more info on the team and the girls. 1st year 14UB team.

And an earlier quote:

1st yr 14U Team has 4 pitchers who all think they will be the #1...what are the chances this is going to work out well? They are all very good pitchers.


Those two quotes seem contradictory to me. I mean a 14U team with 4 "very good" pitchers is an A level team by definition, isn't it??

 

[Hawkeyes]

1st year 14 here. We had 4 on the team. Well, technically 3 and 1 who put a lot of time in practicing to only throw 1 game all year.

1&2 were clearly better than 3&4. In hind-site we should have throw 3&4 more throughout the season so that we could have used them more at the end when we really needed them. #1 was worn down, mainly because of her school ball innings she was also throwing. #2 grew by leaps and bounds this year, it was fun to see. She worked hard in the offseason and it paid off. #3 didnt do much work in the offseason. In fact her parents shut her down for the first 3-4 tournies because of track. She was throwing quite well by the end of the year. #4 only threw 1 pool game that we knew we couldnt win so why waste 1-2-3. She understood it coming in and took "one for the team" Her interest in pitching has significantly dropped.

We play a lot of pool play on Fri/Sat and single elim on Sunday. We should have done better at developing girls on Saturday and tried to ride 1 and 2 on Sunday

 

[KPower]

And an earlier quote:

1st yr 14U Team has 4 pitchers who all think they will be the #1...what are the chances this is going to work out well? They are all very good pitchers.


Those two quotes seem contradictory to me. I mean a 14U team with 4 "very good" pitchers is an A level team by definition, isn't it??

I can see why this would seem contradictory - in our area there are no 12A teams - and the 14A teams are few and far between - so - they are very good for our area and level of play available locally. They are entering this season as a 14B team but could probably be 14A except there aren't enough 14A local teams to compete with. Does that clear anything up? - or make it clear as mud?

 

[coach james]

But at 14u, if they aren't given time in bracket to face pressure and get the job done, they get further away from being pitchers. 14u is when they start making decisions about what they want to focus on for college (if that's the goal). Pitchers need to get their pitches on, and if they don't, they won't stay pitchers very long.

That's why the adage is that if your DD is pitcher #3 or #4, find a new team.

But if the #3 and #4 were as good as the #1 and #2 they would actually be the #1 or #2... this is her motivation to get better, and earn her starts. Its when the 1 is gassed, the 2 plays, and if she struggles the 3 goes in etc... its the daddy ball guys that want his dd to start regardless of her skills vs. her teammates. He's now the one of the guys starting up a new team every year that's diluted in talent.... but who cares right? as long as dd is this teams ace, nothing else matters

 

[MNDad]

It’s ridiculous for a coach to announce who his #1, #2 etc. pitchers are. Especially at the younger ages, how are they supposed to know at August tryouts who the best pitcher will be in June?

As far as the perfect number of pitchers, it depends. DD has been on teams with four pitchers sharing duties and everything was perfect. Her HS team only had two pitchers and that was one too many. Jealousy, insecurity and a parents big mouth are usually what drives problems with multiple pitchers.

 

[grcsftbll]

Not announce so much as set up reasonable expectations. The coach probably has a good idea of how often he'll use each, to start. That could definitely change over the course of the season, but letting 4 pitchers go into the season thinking they're #1 just seems like a pretty bad idea.

 

[KCM]

Here is another twist to the question: Are we talking showcase pitching or tournament pitching?

I had 7 pitchers out of 16 players last year. All different levels and just well plainly different from each other. Really 3 were just wanting more time to get better and was thankful for every pitch they got during a game (typically a pool game with weight on bracket). I will say those 3 all played other positions exceptionally well. They just wanted to keep pitching to better themselves for their school teams. Well my other rock solid ones of course played other positions also but I had this 1 that was fine sitting the bench and cheering when not in the circle. She was great extra person to keep in dug out to keep order. The one I really leaned on during championship games. They all supported each other and got playing time.

Now this year I have 4 and 2 of them see pool games only. I think just be honest with all the players about specific playing time at a specific position. Most girls just want on the field no matter where they play at.

And to answer my question:
Showcase 2 pitchers
Tournaments in the south - the whole team!

 

[GOINGDEEP]

We had a pretty good setup. One ace, that everyone knew was the money pitcher, so no drama there. Two good pitchers, that could absorb games/innings to let the ace rest ( and hide her deep into the bracket ). Two position players who were "decent" pitchers, who could pitch the easier games.

Too many pitchers is not a bad thing, as long as everyone knows their role, and knows the team strategy.