Overuse or Under-Preparation? The Real Reason Youth Pitchers Are Breaking Down
For years, baseball has been chasing the wrong problem.
The explosion of youth Tommy John surgeries has triggered endless debates about overuse—pitch counts, showcases, and year-round play. But what if overuse isn’t the real issue? What if the real problem is under-preparation—not just in throwing, but in the way young pitchers train, recover, and optimize their bodies for high performance?
At NewmanHP, we ask every one of our clients three simple but critical questions:
Going into training, have you followed a structured, year-round program that ensures you’re physically prepared?
From a recovery standpoint, can you explain to me exactly what you’re doing to ensure full regeneration between throwing sessions?
Do you have data—blood work, force plate assessments, DEXA scans—that confirm your body is truly ready for high-intensity output?
The uncomfortable truth? Even at the highest levels, the vast majority of athletes cannot confidently say ‘yes’ to all three.
At the youth level, where there’s no million-dollar support staff, no performance labs, and very little individualized monitoring, the preparation gap is even wider.
So before we even talk about pitch counts or innings limits, we need to be asking: Are these pitchers structurally, nutritionally, and physiologically prepared to throw?
And the answer, in most cases, is a resounding NO.
The Marathon Runner Analogy: You Can’t Just Show Up and Perform
Let’s step outside of baseball for a second. Imagine a marathon runner who only runs races. No training, no base-building—just showing up and running 26.2 miles as fast as possible.
Absurd, right? Every serious distance runner follows a progressive workload model—gradually increasing mileage, building capacity, and peaking at the right time. If they don’t? They break down.
Yet in baseball, we expect young pitchers to “just show up and throw”. With little to no structured throwing progression. No training base. No systematic arm preparation.
And then we wonder why their elbows explode.
The reality is, pitching at high intensity without proper preparation is like running a marathon without training. The workload isn’t the issue—the lack of preparation is.
Why Pitch Counts Are a Band-Aid, Not a Solution
For years, baseball has treated pitch counts as the golden rule of arm care. But let’s look deeper.
Take two high school pitchers:
Player A: Throws 75 pitches in a game after spending the last 12 weeks in a structured throwing, strength, and mobility program.
Player B: Also throws 75 pitches—but hasn’t thrown since last summer, barely trained, and his first bullpen was a week before the season.
Same pitch count. Who’s at greater risk?
Player B is an injury waiting to happen. His arm isn’t conditioned. His muscles can’t support the load. His tendons aren’t ready for repeated high-intensity stress.
It’s not the total number of pitches that breaks a pitcher—it’s whether their body is prepared to handle them.
The assumption that less throwing = fewer injuries is a myth. Pitch counts don’t account for:
Whether the athlete has a baseline of year-round structural training
Whether their recovery plan matches their throwing plan
If their nutrition, sleep, and biochemistry support tissue repair
The real issue isn’t the total number of throws—it’s whether the body has been developed to handle them.
Throwing Isn’t the Problem—It’s the Lack of Full-Body Preparation
At NewmanHP, we measure preparation across three pillars:
Structural Readiness: Have You Built the Physical Foundation?
Baseball has failed young athletes by assuming that playing games = getting in shape. The truth? Game performance is an output of training—not the training itself.
Pitchers should follow a progressive workload plan just like any elite athlete:
Early phase: Long toss, light catch work, arm care drills
Middle phase: Progressive bullpen buildup, controlled velocity work
Peak phase: Full-intensity bullpens, simulated game conditions and extensive recovery protocols
This is how our MLB pitchers prepare—why aren’t we applying the same principles to youth baseball?
Recovery Optimization: Can You Prove That You’re Fully Recovered?
At NewmanHP, we assess real recovery—not just passive rest.
When we ask elite pitchers what their recovery plan looks like, very few have an answer beyond some soft tissue work and an occasional contrast bath here or there
True high-performance recovery must be data-driven:
Are you tracking DEXA scans and body composition to ensure adequate tissue repair from your nutrition plan?
Do your blood panels confirm optimal biomarkers for metabolic health?
Are you matching your recovery inputs (nutrition, therapy, sleep) to your training outputs?
Time off alone isn’t recovery. A body that isn’t actively being repaired between outings is a body that’s slowly breaking down.
Physiological Optimization: Are You Supporting Peak Output?
Elite-level throwing requires more than just strong mechanics—it requires internal optimization.
Ask yourself:
Are you tracking HRV (Heart Rate Variability) and CNS fatigue to assess nervous system recovery?
Is your nutrition aligned with your metabolic demands? (Blood glucose stability, micronutrient levels, and digestion efficiency all play a role.)
Are you using targeted advanced recovery tools (float therapy, photobiomodulation, manual therapy) to regenerate soft tissue?
The highest-level pitchers aren’t just managing workload—they’re systematically engineering their bodies for durability.
The Future of Youth Pitching: Preparation Over Protection
The Tommy John epidemic isn’t about overuse. It’s about kids throwing at max intensity without the physical preparation to handle it.
At NewmanHP, we challenge every athlete to answer these three questions:
Have you built a structural foundation that allows you to handle high-intensity throwing?
Can you prove—through data, not guesswork—that your body is fully recovered and optimized for performance?
Do you have a coordinated, personalized training and recovery plan that accounts for your individual physiology?
You will find very few athletes at any level can answer “yes” to all three.
That’s why we don’t focus on reducing workload—we focus on optimizing the athlete to handle workload.
We hope the paradigm will shift, where in high-performance baseball we from:
“Limiting workload” → to progressively building throwing capacity
“Don’t throw too much” → to train properly so you can throw without breaking down
“Avoid injury” → to develop pitchers who are physically and biochemically bulletproof
If we can shift the conversation from overuse prevention to full-spectrum preparation, we can change the trajectory of baseball performance forever.
The Challenge to Baseball’s Thought Leaders
This is a wake-up call.
We need to stop managing pitching and start developing pitchers.
Coaches: Design individualized offseason throwing and recovery plans—not just game schedules.
Parents: Demand real arm care and recovery interventions backed by data—not just passive rest.
Athletes: Take pride in your strength, mobility, nutrition, and recovery just like the pro’s.
If we prepare pitchers properly, pitch counts won’t even be a discussion—because their bodies will be built to handle the required workload.
