5 Things Every Baseball Parent Should Track

When my son Jeremy started pitching, I was the dad in the stands with a notepad trying to tally pitches and hoping I was doing the math right. I didn't have a good system. I wasn't sure what to watch, what to write down, or what it all meant after the game.

After a few seasons of trial and error, I've narrowed it down to five things that actually matter — the five things that make a real difference in keeping Jeremy healthy, helping him improve, and giving me confidence as a parent that I'm watching out for him the right way.

If your kid pitches — or might pitch someday — this list is for you.

1. Pitch Counts (Every Pitch, Every Game)

I want to start here with some honesty about why this matters — not just as a rule to follow, but as something that comes from a place of real love for the game and for the kids playing it.

A young pitcher's arm is still growing. The growth plates in the elbow and shoulder — the soft cartilage zones where bones lengthen — don't fully harden until the mid-teen years. That means when a 10-year-old throws a baseball, the stress lands on tissue that is genuinely fragile in a way an adult arm simply isn't. The injuries that come from overuse — Little Leaguer's Elbow, shoulder impingement, and eventually UCL tears — don't announce themselves with a single dramatic moment. They build quietly, pitch by pitch, game by game, tournament by tournament.

Pitch counts exist not to limit a kid's development, but to protect the arm that will carry them through their development. The pitcher who stays healthy at 11 is the one who gets to compete at 14, at 17, and beyond. The ones who get pushed too far too young — even with great intentions — are often the ones who don't make it that far.

That's why every pitch in every competitive game should be counted and recorded. Not "about 60" or "somewhere around there" — the exact number, because the rest-day thresholds are specific. Throwing 65 pitches versus 66 is the difference between 3 days of rest and 4 under Pitch Smart guidelines for ages 9–14. That one pitch is a real distinction, and treating it that way sends a message to every kid on your roster that their arm is worth protecting precisely.

Beyond protection, pitch count data over time tells a story about your pitcher's development. If Jeremy throws 45, 50, 58, 65, 70 pitches in five consecutive starts, I can see that his workload is climbing — and I can have a calm, early conversation with his coach before it becomes a problem. Without the data, that conversation doesn't happen until someone's arm hurts. With it, you're making proactive decisions instead of reactive ones.

See the full pitch limits by age in our pitch count rules guide.

2. Rest Days and Return-to-Pitch Dates

Tracking pitch counts is only half the job. The other half is knowing exactly when your pitcher is eligible to pitch again — and having that information ready before anyone asks in the dugout.

Rest day rules are calendar-day based, which means the calculation is simple but easy to get wrong. If Jeremy throws 70 pitches on a Saturday, he needs 4 rest days: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. He's eligible on Thursday. Not Tuesday. Not Wednesday. Thursday.

I keep a running list of every pitcher's return date updated after each game. When Thursday's lineup goes up, there's no debate and no scrambling to remember when the last game was.

See the full rest-day chart and how to count correctly in our pitcher rest day rules guide.

3. Cumulative Pitch and Inning Volume (Season & Rolling 12 Months)

Single-game pitch counts protect a pitcher game-to-game. But the bigger risk that most parents don't track is cumulative overuse across an entire season or year — the slow buildup that leads to the injuries that require surgery.

USA Baseball's Pitch Smart program recommends that pitchers aged 8–12 throw no more than 80 total innings in a 12-month period, and pitchers aged 13–18 throw no more than 100 total innings in a 12-month period. These aren't maximums to hit — they're ceilings not to exceed.

With travel ball, fall ball, school ball, and showcase events stacking up, it's entirely possible for a motivated 12-year-old to blow past 80 innings without anyone noticing — because no single game looks alarming. The only way to catch this is to track it.

4. Pitch Types Thrown by Age

Young pitchers love to throw breaking balls. Splitters look devastating. Sliders get strikeouts. And unfortunately, both put significantly more stress on the elbow and forearm than fastballs or changeups — especially in players whose growth plates haven't closed yet.

The Pitch Smart guidelines are clear on this: pitchers under 13 should only throw fastballs and changeups. No splitters, no sliders, no cut fastballs. At 13–14, a splitter can be introduced once mechanics are solid and repeatable, and the pitcher has mastered the fastball and changeup. Sliders should be treated with caution through the mid-teen years.

As a parent, it's worth knowing what your kid is actually throwing in games — especially if they're working with a pitching coach who may have different ideas about what to develop. The question to ask isn't "can he throw a splitter" but "should he be throwing it in games at this age."

5. Game-by-Game Performance Notes

Stats tell you what happened. Notes tell you why.

After every game Jeremy pitches, I write down a few sentences: How did he look mechanically? Was he getting his changeup over? Did he seem tired early? Any complaints about his arm afterward? Did the splitter have good depth or did it flatten out?

Over a season, those notes start to reveal patterns that box scores never would. I've noticed that Jeremy loses command of his changeup on games where he warmed up in cold weather. I've noticed that his pitch counts go up when he's behind in the count early. These are things to work on — but I only know about them because I wrote them down.

Game notes are also invaluable for conversations with coaches, especially when your kid is moving up to a new team or being evaluated. A two-season log of pitch counts, rest days, and performance notes is worth more than any highlight reel.

One thing I always note now: did the splitter have good shape, or did it flatten out? A flattening splitter is often the first mechanical sign that fatigue is setting in — long before it shows up in velocity or command.

Putting It All Together

When I started tracking all five of these things consistently, two things happened. First, Jeremy's arm stayed healthier — because I had real data to push back when schedules got aggressive. Second, he started improving faster — because we had a real record of what was working and what wasn't.

That's why I built StrikeCraft Pitch Tracker. It handles items 1 and 2 automatically — pitch counts logged pitch-by-pitch, rest days calculated after every game. The game history gives you the season-long record you need for item 3. And the player evaluation tools help with item 5.

Everything works offline, stores on your device, and is $1.99 on the App Store. It's the tool I wish I'd had when Jeremy threw his first competitive pitch.