As velocity increases across baseball, every level of the sport is taking steps to protect its pitchers.
MLB fans know all too well how vulnerable pitchers both young and old can be. The arm isn't exactly designed to throw a ball 98 mph thousands of times in a year, and an uptick in injuries over the past decade has forced teams to exercise extreme caution with young pitchers.
Some believe the problem starts at the earliest levels of the sport, where children are, in some cases, throwing too often while their bodies are still developing. The Little League World Series is trying its best not to be part of the problem, enforcing a set of restrictions on players in youth baseball's biggest tournament.
Here's a look at the pitch counts for Little League World Series pitchers.
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Little League World Series pitch counts
Little League World Series pitchers are capped at a maximum of 85 pitches in a game, according to Little League Baseball official rules, but there are even stricter limits depending on rest and age.
The youngest age group allowed to play in the Little League World Series, 10-year-olds, are saddled with a maximum pitch count of 75, while players of all LLWS ages are forced to rest a certain number of days depending on how many pitches they throw.
A pitcher who throws 20 or fewer pitches in a game doesn't have to rest at all, while a pitcher who throws between 66 and 85 pitches in a game must rest for four days.
Here's the complete breakdown of how many rest days are required per pitch count:
| Pitches | Days of rest |
|---|---|
| 66-85 | 4 |
| 51-65 | 3 |
| 36-50 | 2 |
| 21-35 | 1 |
| 1-20 | 0 |
Little League World Series field dimensions
Pitchers in the Little League World Series aren't throwing 60 feet and six inches like MLB pitchers do. Instead, the mound is 46 feet from home plate.
The mound distance isn't all that's different from MLB standards, of course. The distance between bases is only 60 feet, rather than 90, and it's 225 feet from home plate to the outfield wall.
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How fast do pitchers throw in the LLWS?
Limits can be set on a player's pitch count, but no one can stop pitchers in the Little League World Series from throwing hard.
Offense was down throughout the LLWS in 2023, in part because pitchers were overpowering hitters. One pitcher, Taiwan's Fan Chen-Jun, was clocked at more than 80 mph.
Chen-Jun isn't the norm, though. Velocity between 70-80 mph is considered well above average in the LLWS, with 60-70 mph more common even from the top pitchers.