A Baseball Pitching Question From a Cuban Coach About A Micro-Cycle For Starting Pitchers In A 5-Man Rotation

Coach Ellis,

My name is Gustavo Ricardo Martinez, and I am baseball trainer and professor at International School of Physical Education and Sports in Cuba.

I am very glad to find people like you that can provide advice and so on. Your Web page is excellent. I learn everyday with you.

Pitching is my main area of interest, and I would like to ask about:

• How do you plan your pitchers in season micro-cycles if you have 5 starting pitchers on your staff?
• How do you plan the pitch volumes all year around?

(I read about Biokinetics in Tom House' books) and we do not have that technology.

Here is an example of a micro-cycle (in season) for my baseball pitchers (we have 5 starters). I’d like your opinion about that.

__________

In season 5-man micro-cycle for starting pitchers:

• Day 1: Game (100 – 110 pitches). Aerobic endurance 30 minutes 65% - 70% MHR.
• Day 2: Rest
• Day 3: Bullpen in the amount of 60% of pitches thrown in the game. Speed work: 4x40 meters, 4x60 meters, all (1:6) work/rest ratio.
• Day 4: Bullpen in amount of 40% of pitches thrown in the game. Interval training: 6x30 seconds, rest 30 seconds or 120 bpm (for aerobic power).
• Day 5: Rest
• Day 6: Game (100 – 110 pitches). Aerobic endurance 30 minutes 70% - 75% MHR.

__________

Thanks in advance,

Gustavo Ricardo Martinez

Cuba

From the desk of Steven Ellis, The Complete Pitcher™:

Thanks for the baseball pitching question Gustavo. I'm pleased that my Web site has been a help to you in Cuba.

The day-to-day routines of starting pitchers differs greatly amongst baseball pitching staffs. And with that the case, there is not necessarily one end-all-be-all pitching routine that works more than another. In the Chicago Cubs organization, starting pitchers were on a 5-man cycle, like your pitchers, and threw two bullpens in between starts, like your baseball pitchers.

If a pitcher threw in a game on Day 1, he'd throw a 52-pitch bullpen on Day 3 and a 22-pitch "tune-up" bullpen on Day 4. Resting on Days 2 and 5. However, the difference with the Cubs starting pitching routine and yours is in the department of pitcher's running.

Instead of starting pitchers running immediately after a game-performance for 20-30 minutes (what we called a "flush run"), the Chicago Cubs starters ran their flush run the next day (Day 2) and long tossed to loosen the arm and alleviate any stiffness and lactic acid build-up.

If a starter was sore or fatigued, the Day 4 "tune-up" bullpen of 22 pitches would be eliminated -- and only added at a later date if the pitching coach and pitcher felt it was necessary to work on control, an off-speed pitch, keeping the baseball low in the strike zone, etc.

Yours in baseball,

Steven Ellis
The Complete Pitcher™
www.thecompletepitcher.com
www.thecompletepitcher.blogs.com