Should catchers catch and pitch in the same game?

A reader asks -- I have a baseball player on my youth team who catches and pitches. Is it OK to pitch him in the same game that he starts out catching in?

I wouldn't do this. While the catcher perhaps isn't throwing as hard as a pitcher, he's throwing just as many "pitches" back to the pitcher. So calling on a kid late in a game to relief pitch after he's caught the early innings is irresponsible.

Catching is very tiring for the player (especially if it's hot). Catchers' backs get sore, the legs fatigue, the arm is spent, etc. So you really have to be careful of fatigue because his tiredness will be much more evident on the mound than it is behind the dish.

If it was my team, I'd develop another catcher or another pitcher instead of having one kid do double duty in a game. Maybe he could pitch and play 1B or OF to help rest his arm a bit, since these positions don't require as many throws in a game as the catcher position.