ARM CARE · 6 MIN READ
YOUTH PITCH COUNT LIMITS BY AGE: HOW MANY PITCHES, HOW MUCH REST
The Prospekt Team · October 20, 2026
If your kid pitches, two numbers matter more than any stat on the scoreboard: how many pitches they threw today, and how many days it's been since they last threw a lot of them. Most arm injuries in young pitchers aren't caused by one bad game. They come from too many pitches, with too little rest, over a whole season.
The most widely used guidelines come from Pitch Smart, a program from MLB and USA Baseball built with input from sports medicine experts. Many leagues and tournaments follow them or something close. Here's what they say, in plain English.
DAILY PITCH LIMITS BY AGE
This is the most a pitcher should throw in one day, even if the game isn't over.
| Age | Daily max |
|---|---|
| 7–8 | 50 pitches |
| 9–10 | 75 pitches |
| 11–12 | 85 pitches |
| 13–14 | 95 pitches |
| 15–16 | 95 pitches |
| 17–18 | 105 pitches |
REST DAYS AFTER AN OUTING
The bigger the outing, the longer the rest. Find your player's age, then how many pitches they threw. The column tells you how many full days off from pitching they need before the next outing.
| Pitches thrown | Ages 7–14 | Ages 15–16 | Ages 17–18 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 days rest | 1–20 | 1–30 | 1–30 |
| 1 day rest | 21–35 | 31–45 | 31–45 |
| 2 days rest | 36–50 | 46–60 | 46–60 |
| 3 days rest | 51–65 | 61–75 | 61–80 |
| 4 days rest | 66 or more | 76 or more | 81 or more |
Ages 7–8 top out at 50 pitches, so they never reach the 3- and 4-day rows. One example: an 11-year-old who throws 55 pitches on Saturday needs 3 full days of rest, so the earliest they should pitch again is Wednesday.
THE RULES THAT ARE EASY TO MISS
- No pitching in more than one game on the same day. Doubleheaders and tournament days are where this slips.
- No pitching three days in a row, no matter how low the counts were.
- Avoid splitting time between pitcher and catcher. Catching is a lot of throws too.
- Take time off every year. The guidelines call for at least 4 months off from throwing each year, with at least 2–3 of those months in a row.
- Count innings across the year, too. For ages 9–12, the guideline is no more than 80 innings pitched in any 12-month period; for 13 and up, 100.
- Pain means stop. A pitcher who has arm pain shouldn't keep throwing, and should be seen by a doctor if it doesn't go away.
WHY IT'S HARD TO FOLLOW IN REAL LIFE
The rules themselves are simple. Keeping track is the hard part. Your kid might pitch for a school team, a travel team, and in a weekend tournament, with a different coach counting each time. A bullpen session at a lesson counts too, even though nobody writes it down. And most parents are trying to remember all of it from the bleachers.
That's where most overuse happens: not one coach ignoring the rules, but nobody seeing the whole week.
HOW WE HANDLE IT IN PROSPEKT
We built Arm Care into Prospekt for exactly this, and it's free. Every pitch you track while your player is on the mound is counted automatically. Bullpen lessons count when you save them. Pitches thrown somewhere you didn't track, like a team practice, can be added in a few seconds with Log Pitches.
On the Home tab, the Arm Care card shows whether your player is Available to Pitch or Resting, and how many days are left, based on their age and their last outing. You can also set your own pitch limit for games: the live count turns yellow at 80% and red when they reach it.
This article is general guidance, not medical advice. Your league or tournament may have its own pitch count rules, and those always come first. If your player has arm pain, talk to a doctor.