Little League pitcher to catcher

[Guest joe]

Starting pitcher throws 40 pitches. Can he catch innings 3-6? He pitched the first two innings with a combined total of 40 and then caught the next four innings. Is that legal?

[stkjock]

Yes, the cut of is 41

 

http://umpire-empire.com/topic/53285-little-league-catcher-to-pitcher-rules/

[Guest joe]

24 minutes ago, stkjock said:

Yes, the cut of is 41

 

http://umpire-empire.com/topic/53285-little-league-catcher-to-pitcher-rules/

That is my understanding of the rule. I was just looking for clarity because the rule states a player who has played the position of catcher in four or more innings is not eligible to pitch. Thanks for the help.

[stevis]

28 minutes ago, Guest joe said:

That is my understanding of the rule. I was just looking for clarity because the rule states a player who has played the position of catcher in four or more innings is not eligible to pitch. Thanks for the help.

That's looking forward though--catch four innings, can't pitch after that (for the day.)  It doesn't apply retroactively.

[Lummy]

It's legal.  A bit of a loophole in the rules if you ask me.  

[beerguy55]

4 hours ago, Lummy said:

It's legal.  A bit of a loophole in the rules if you ask me.  

Maybe...you don't want to create a situation where a pitcher starts the first inning, gets pulled after a few batters because he can't hit the strike zone, and then can't catch past the fourth inning either - that's not the intent of the rule.   Keeping in mind you might have two or three games that day.  By rule, that pitcher can't pitch in the second or third games on the same day (unless he's 17/18)...but he can catch the rest of the day, provided he didn't hit 41 pitches in that first game.   You also don't want to be in a situation where a coach is forced to play a catcher who has never caught before, or a pitcher who has never pitched before, because of retroactive inning/pitch counts.

I doubt it's a loophole.  I think it's intentional.   It would be very easy to add a rule that says "a player who has pitched at all may not catch more than three innings in any game that day" - which is effectively the reverse the supposed loophole.   There's a reason they don't.

It would also be very easy to add rules that prevent a catcher who catches three innings in three consecutive games to then pitch to his daily limit in the third game.  There's a reason they don't.

The rules as written are a compromise between safety, likelihood of injury, and practicality.

Nobody's counting the warmup pitches either before the game or between innings.