By Coach Pierce Jones –
When most people hear the phrase “workload management,” they immediately think it means doing less. Less throwing. Less competing. Less opportunity. But that idea misses the point entirely. When done correctly, workload management is not about holding athletes back; it is about preparing them to handle more over time. More innings. More appearances. More consistency throughout a season. More durability when the workload becomes demanding.
The reality is simple: if your body is not prepared for the level of stress required, problems will eventually show up. It is not really a question of if, but when. Think about running a marathon. Most people could not wake up tomorrow and successfully run 26 miles. But give someone close to a year to train and build toward it, and suddenly it becomes realistic. If that same person only had a couple of months to prepare, the challenge becomes much greater.
Pitching is no different. A single baseball season places a huge amount of stress on the body, especially on the arm. Athletes cannot expect to jump straight into high-intensity competition without first building the capacity to handle it. That is where workload management becomes essential. Its purpose is not to limit athletes, but to prepare them for the demands they will face once the season begins.
Every year in professional baseball, injuries tend to spike early in the season. One major reason is that many players are not fully prepared for the workload that comes with competing day after day. Their bodies have not fully adapted to the stress, and eventually, that lack of preparation catches up to them.
The shortened 2020 season gave another clear example of this. After spring training was interrupted, players had very little time to rebuild before returning to competition. That season saw a major increase in elbow injuries across professional baseball. The problem is not limited to the professional level, either. A large percentage of Tommy John surgeries now occur in athletes between the ages of 15 and 19, and those numbers continue to rise each year. Young athletes are being exposed to demands their bodies are not fully prepared to handle.
At the end of the day, athletes do not magically rise to the level of their goals. They rise to the level of their preparation. Workload management is not about saving bullets for later; it is about making sure athletes are physically ready when the biggest moments arrive.
The focus should not be on limiting athletes. The focus should be on building them up so they can handle the demands of the season with confidence and durability.
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Important TBR Updates
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