I will start off by saying it is the coach’s responsibility to take care of a pitcher’s arm. No kid in their right mind will tell the coach they don’t want the ball in a big game–especially not a team’s ace in a playoff game.
Assuming the pitcher is healthy and he is asked to take the ball on three days rest, as opposed to the usual four or five, it is now the pitcher’s job to properly prepare.
If you know that you will be going on short rest, it is very important to keep a few things in mind:
- Do not lift weights in between starts: You are putting enough strain on your pitching arm by throwing on short rest, so there is no need to make matters worse by doing any upper body workouts that may compound the issue.
- Make sure you get your long-distance running it: I consider a long-distance run to be between 2-3 miles. This will improve your stamina and get rid of the lactic acid.
- Ice will help: I am not usually a believer in icing the arm, but it will help you get ready quicker if you are making a start on short rest.
- Light toss: The day after your start (two days before your next one) you will want to have a toss to get those muscles ready to pitch again. It usually takes 4-5 days for your body to recover but this is a different situation.
- Status quo on the day of your start: Now that you’ve done everything to prepare your body for the rigors of a start, it’s important that you treat the day of your start the same as any other start. This means that you are getting your jogging in before you are getting loose, that you are doing your short toss, your long toss and a good bullpen with at least 30 pitches so you are ready to go. Most pitchers struggle in the first inning because they are still adjusting to the mound. If you work on everything in the bullpen, you should be ready to go with your best command. You should not be altering your pitch sequencing or how many breaking balls you throw. If you followed all the previous steps, you will have your ‘A’ stuff and shouldn’t need to stray from what’s made you successful.
It is important that although the playoffs bring added pressure that you do not pitch in relief the day after a start. Your arm is not recovered and no coach should ask his ace to pitch when you are not at 100 percent.
