Pitching and Pitchers Discussion Should pitchers only pitch?

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If a pitcher is a good hitter and position player,do you play them when they are not pitching ?or do you only pitch them ,like college?

 

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NO!!!!!! ? ?Pitcher's should NEVER only pitch. ?Especially if they are able to hit and field!!!!! ? ?When she is not on the mound she should be in the field!! ?If a coach is telling you otherwise...something is not right!!??

 

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If a pitcher can help the team win by hitting, or playing other positions when she is not pitching, then she should absolutely do these things.

 

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As the father of a pithcer/player....I would hate to see my daughter only pitch. She loves the game of softball not just pitching. I know they need to rest sometimes but she loves playing in the field and showing that she is a ballplayer not just an arm.

 

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I would hate to see a great player/pitcher not being utilized by their coach if they aren't pitching. If she plays well in the field and can hit you would want to use her as much as possible. I also don't like seeing a coach putting in a courtesy runner if she is a good base runner. This should only be done if you are short on time in a tournament, or other exceptional situations IMHO.

 

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I know my dd likes to play also in the field. She also knows with a 2 pitcher rotation that she needs to rest for the next game also. But she always bats ( swings a pretty mean club right now).

 

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There are too many variables to answer this. ?If the girl is a good fielder, hitter, etc. then she should play. ?On the other hand, if the girl is not that adept at playing a position or is a weak hitter, then the coach should find the right times and games to play her in the field.

 

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If a pitcher is ?a good hitter and position player,do you play them when they are not pitching ?or do you only pitch them ,like college?

Many good comments already and I would agree with all of them. ?Based on the question, if she can hit and play another position as well as or better than someone else she should be playing. ?I feel that the pitcher loves the game and respects the game more than most any other player out there. ?She puts in more time at practice, works harder and takes more negative than any of the players and in some cases even the coach. ?I am saying this as though she is a good pitcher and does do the work as I am sure most of them do. ?Also as far as getting to play in college, it is to her advantage to be on the field playing and batting, to show that she can play other position and hit. ?The college may not need a pitcher but could use an outfielder with a good bat, so why would anyone put limits on a girl that works so hard to accomplish her goals. ?I feel that the coach may be doing her an injustice by not letting her play. ?

Of course she should only play and bat if she wants to do so, and also the coach must take into consideration if she is going to pitch the next game or has already pitched 1 or 2 games and give her the rest she needs. ?

Simply stated if she can play as good at any other position as well as anyone else, and can hit as well as anyone else on the team, she should by all means be given the opportunity under the correct circumstances. ?

Just my 2 cents. ?

 

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Johnnies you are right there are a lot of variables to this question. One variable is the importance of pitching to the team. If you have one dominant pitcher capable of carrying the team to the state championship do you risk her going to the plate and get a wrist or hand broken by getting hit by a pitch? You loose her you loose your season. Now if you have two of these pitchers then you are lucky and don't need to be so careful. Most teams have enough, comparable position players to not miss a beat when there is an injury replacement, however that isn't always true with pitching.

 

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Timac and Johnnies ... you are right that sometimes a coach may have to make a decision in the best interest of the team to rest and/or protect from injury a "star" pitcher. If we're talking about travel ball, the pitcher/parents should have an understanding with the coach about their intentions before finalizing a team to play on. A few years back, my dd's coach told her that she would start one of every 3 games, play in the field one of every 3 games, and sit one of every 3 games, and she/we were fine knowing that going into the season. As it turned out, she hit well and played a good outfield and got to play almost every game. Now, when you're talking about high school where a pitcher often carries a team, you have to accept the fact that the head coach needs to do what is best for the team in the long run. Our HS pitcher is one of our faster players and loves to run bases but unless the game is on the line, often gets pulled for a slightly slower courtesy runner, primarily to rest her a little and to lessen the chance of her being injured. She doesn't like it a lot but understands the coach is doing what he thinks is in the best interest of the team.

 

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Johnnies you are right there are a lot of variables to this question. ? One variable is the importance of pitching to the team. ?If you have one dominant pitcher capable of carrying the team to the state championship do you risk her going to the plate and get a wrist or hand broken by getting hit by a pitch? ? You loose her you loose your season. ? Now if you have two of these pitchers then you are lucky and don't need to be so careful. ? Most teams have enough, ?comparable position players to not miss a beat when there is an injury replacement, ?however that isn't always true with pitching. ?

I was going to address that issue in my original post but I had to rush the post. (Boss Button).

Any time your stud pitcher plays, hits and runs there is a chance of an injury. But what if your pitcher is a stud hitter or is a big part of the offense or a state caliber fielder. You have to consider what impact it would have to hold that type of player out of the lineup. These are some of the dilemas that coaches face. Sort of "darn if you do and darn if you don't".

 

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Timac and Johnnies ... you are right that sometimes a coach may have to make a decision in the best interest of the team to rest and/or protect from injury a "star" pitcher. ?If we're talking about travel ball, the pitcher/parents should have an understanding with the coach about their intentions before finalizing a team to play on. ?A few years back, my dd's coach told her that she would start one of every 3 games, play in the field one of every 3 games, and sit one of every 3 games, and she/we were fine knowing that going into the season. ?As it turned out, she hit well and played a good outfield and got to play almost every game. ?Now, when you're talking about high school where a pitcher often carries a team, you have to accept the fact that the head coach needs to do what is best for the team in the long run. ?Our HS pitcher is one of our faster players and loves to run bases but unless the game is on the line, often gets pulled for a slightly slower courtesy runner, primarily to rest her a little and to lessen the chance of her being injured. ?She doesn't like it a lot but understands the coach is doing what he thinks is in the best interest of the team.

Good point.

 

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Our top pitcher also does pretty good at first base and hitting. However, last year when playing for her school team she was allowed to do her own base running and rolled her ankle sliding into second and missed most of the season. The big problem was she was the only girl on the school team that was a genuine developed pitcher and there was no wins with her on the bench.

 

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here is something I don't understand. You have a good pitcher who can hit and run bases well. She plays summer ball and probably gets 60-80 games in a year. She gets on base during a crucial school ball game and they curtousy run for her with a kid that wouldn't make a rec team - so that she can "get in the game". Why do coaches do that? I watched one of those tonite, get thrown out at home in the second out of a double play. I know it was only a scrimmage but I've seen it happen in the districts and regionals.

 

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Honestly i think it's crazy if you only have yr pitcher pichting 100% of the time. I played last year and was also a pitcher, and i also was the #1 shortstop for my team and i was lead off batter, and i also got to run the bases for me. It also gives the pitcher more to fall back on if pitching come to show that pitching is not her thing, you can work as much as you want but some people have it and some people dont now if you only leave yr pitcher pitching what is she going to do when she goes to another team and they ahve 2 pitchers ahead of her, she will ahve no where to fall back on, so yea i think pitchers should not JUST pitch they should play the feild and hit.

 

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This thread really points out that like most other decisions a coach, any sport, any level, has to make it has to be based on current circumstances and they change from season to season, sometimes game to game.

 

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I had a very respected high school coach tell me he only bats for his pitcher when the temperatures are extremely cold. He said in the past one of his pitchers got "stingers" in her throwing hand after batting and could not continue on the mound until they went away.

 

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I have heard this before. If we did this on our travel teams down here we would be in trouble. Our 12u team has 7 girls that pitched for either their local or travel teams last year!! They will all pitch in high school. 4 of them have gone yard already this season!!! How do you take those bats out of the lineup? Our 10's have 2 good pitchers and 2 others learning. They all are very good field players and hitters. You can't waste that - and you can't stop their growth as a total player.