New Pitch Count Rules In Effect As High School Baseball Season Approaches In New Jersey

The New Jersey high school baseball season set to begin in the coming days will be the first with the new pitch count rule in effect.

Last month, the NJSIAA approved a rule that sets a limit of 110 pitches for a pitcher in a single game, and 140 pitches in a five-day span.

Pitchers will also not be permitted to pitch on three consecutive days, and can’t throw more than 50 pitches two days in a row. Pitchers who reach their limit during an at-bat will be allowed to finish before taking a seat.

An independent adult pitch counter will monitor games and compare their number with the number from each team at the end of each half inning. If all three have different numbers, the independent counter’s number will be considered official; if any two have the same number, that number will be official.

The full breakdown of number of pitches compared to number of days rest looks like this:

• 1-30: no rest necessary.
• 31-50: 1 day.
• 51-70: 2 days.
• 71-90: 3 days.
• 91-110: 4 days.

One exception is a pitcher who throws up to 50 pitches in a playoff game that is suspended would be eligible to throw the next day, resuming from the number of pitches thrown on the first day and not exceeding 110 pitches.

The rule will be in effect as a pilot program for this season only, and will be reviewed after.

Previously, pitchers couldn’t throw more than 10 innings in four days, and were required to rest for three days after throwing six or more innings, and two days after five innings.

The vote comes after the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) announced a policy calling for new rules for pitchers, leaving each state to decide what their specific pitch counts will be, according to baseballhealthnetwork.com.

The new season begins Saturday, April 1. To view important dates for the upcoming season, visit njsiaa.org.

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