CIF Commissioners are beginning process to implement pitch count in baseball

For almost 30 years, there has been a rule in high school baseball in California allowing pitchers to throw no more than 10 innings in a week.

Now the CIF Commissioners have begun consideration and research on putting together a new rule that would emphasize pitch count over innings pitched.

By this summer, the commissioners are hoping to receive advice from their baseball advisory committee. A proposal could be made by the fall and voted on in January to be put into place for the 2017 baseball season.

An early proposal discussed last month at a commissioner’s meeting would have a pitcher not allowed to throw more than 100 pitches in a varsity game. There would be a formula based on rest between appearances on how many pitches allowed in a week.

Still to be worked out is how to keep track of the pitches, along with the involvement of umpires and coaches in tracking pitches.

But it’s clear at a time of growing concern about arm injuries and Tommy John surgeries, there’s a movement to control the number of pitches thrown in a game and during a week, so some kind of action is expected for 2017.

Colorado just began a pitch count rule this year. Here’s the link to its rule.

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