THE WORLD'S LARGEST AND MOST COMPREHENSIVE SCOUTING ORGANIZATION
| 2,496 MLB PLAYERS | 15,806 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
2,496 MLB PLAYERS | 15,806 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
Sign in Create Account
Sign in Create Account
General  | General | 5/6/2021

Wolforth Thrower Mentorship: Article 6

Jerry Ford
Ron Wolforth
Photo: Johnny Tergo/Truth Baseball
Ron Wolforth probably knows more about the throwing arm and arm care than anyone we know. Many of you may have heard about the famous Texas Baseball Ranch that Ron has been running for many years. We have built a great relationship with Ron and his wife Jill over the years.

It all started a few years back when Ron sent his son Garrett to a Perfect Game event. His son was a catcher/infielder and set some all-time PG records for pop times (1.75) and velocity (89 mph) at the time. He also threw mid-90s across the infield. He is now playing professionally. Being an average-sized kid, this really drew our interest. Once we realized who his father was, it became clear.



Since then we have followed the Texas Baseball Ranch closely. Ron is a very humble man, which is a reason so many speak highly of him. We have never run across a single person that shows any disrespect for him or the Ranch. So we decided to ask him to help our millions of followers.

Over the years he has helped thousands of pitchers, including many that became Major League All-Stars. Yes, he teaches velocity gains, better control and command, and everything a pitchers needs to be successful. However, unlike many others, he is an absolute stickler when it comes to doing it safely. His interest doesn't just involve velocity gains and other improvements, all of which are very important. He wants his students to understand arm care and how to throw and stay healthy. He does this without a cookie cutter program. He understands that all players are different individuals.

Perfect Game's interest in prospects, arm care and keeping young kids healthy is the major reason we have decided to work with Ron Wolforth.

Below is the sixth of an ongoing column he will be doing on our Perfect Game website. This information will be gold for any player interested in improving their throwing ability and staying healthy. Make sure you read every column he contributes and feel free to comment on them.

If you want to attend one of his camps and improve your throwing ability, here is the link to the website:
https://www.texasbaseballranch.com/

Jerry Ford
President
Perfect Game

. . .

Article 1: Where the Sidewalk Terminates
Article 2: The Exact Location of Your Arm Pain is Incredibly Valuable Information
Article 3: No Pain, No Problem...Right? Not Quite So Fast.
Article 4: The Secret to Accelerated Skill Development: Hyper-Personalization
Article 5: The Case Against Weighted Balls?

 In the past 15 years or so, pitch counts have become all the rage. In my personal opinion, pitch counts have become a double-edge sword. While pitch counts certainly can be of value as an objective measure of pitcher volume and workload, they do often require context.

A dear personal friend of mine of more than 20 years, Brent Strom is the major league pitching coach for the Houston Astros. Prior to that, Brent was the Minor League Pitching Coordinator for the Montreal Expos, Washington Nationals and St. Louis Cardinals. In that role he was constantly scouring through reports trying to decide, among other things, if he had assigned the appropriate workload for his minor league pitchers throughout his organization.

His approach is a textbook case of how to utilize pitch counts effectively. The amateur coach can learn a lot by studying and following Strommy’s approach to whatever degree he can. Brent considered a myriad of variables such as age and experience of the pitcher, arm health history, mechanical efficiency, weather, point in the season, pitch counts of the previous three starts, mental/emotional state, stressfulness/intensity of the game (ie. was it close or a blowout), etc.

Most in the amateur baseball universe fail to look at pitch counts from this rather wide and deep perspective and I believe this often leads to blind spots and precarious inferential leaps. In other words, too many parents and coaches are making important decisions without some very critical information.

Yes, I do realize many reading this might react, “Well that’s Brent Strom and professional baseball. We do not have his resources or the time to do such a deep dive.” I hear you. I really do. But some of those variables are well within the amateur coach’s ability to include in his decision-making process. It’s what I refer to as adding ‘context’ to the pitch count.

Let me give you an example of what I mean:

Let’s say we have two identical twin 16-year-old pitchers. For the sake of the analogy, let us say that in every other way and in every before-mentioned variable they are exactly the same: Same years of experience; Exact same ramp up to competition; Exact same history of arm health and mechanical efficiency. Etc. Etc.

In this weekend’s games, Twin A threw 110 pitches. Twin B threw 55 pitches.

Which twin had the more stressful workload?

This is what I mean by context. If I told you nothing else, if those numbers were all you had to make your decision by, a vast majority of people would respond in this general fashion:

“Twin A had quite a workload. Better watch him carefully. Twin B is pretty safe. 55 pitches are much more reasonable. So, in reality, Twin A actually had twice the workload as Twin B.”

But what if I added this context:

Twin A threw a complete seven inning game. Twin B threw one inning.

Does that change your view of the two workloads? You bet your sweet bippie it does!

Twin A averaged 15.7 pitches per inning. Twin B averaged 55 pitches.

If all other variables are equal, which Twin was at greatest risk of injury? Unquestionably Twin B.

Still skeptical of my call for context? Let me take it out of the pitching realm for one movement.

Offering a Non-baseball Analogy to Help Drive Home My Point

Two young men very equal in ability and training are tasked to perform 105 ‘perfect’ sit ups.

Young man #1 performs 15 perfect sit-ups then rests 20 minutes. He repeats the process 7 times.

Young man #2 does 105 perfect sit-ups all at once without stopping.

Therefore, they both perform 105 sit-ups for that day.

Immediately after their 105th sit-up was completed, I ask each one how difficult the task was.
I suggest we would get significantly different responses. The tasks are simply not equal although the total number of sit-ups were equal. This is what I mean by ‘context’.

Now let’s return to our twin pitcher example.

Imagine if I now significantly alter the other variables such as experience, ramp-up/preparation prior to competition, weather; point in the season, history of arm health, pitch counts of the previous three starts, mental/emotional state, stressfulness/intensity of the game and mechanical efficiency?

Are you starting to feel that simple pitch count isn’t enough information for you?

Good. That’s a good place to be in my opinion: Open and constantly searching for additional context.

So the next time someone tries to throw around plastic and rigid terms such as ‘pitch counts’ and ‘overuse’ and uses them as an arrogant battering ram to make some kind of cogent point, you can honestly counter: “Pitch counts can certainly be helpful and ‘overuse’ is indeed a real thing, but unless we deal with these through the prism of each individual athlete and look a little deeper, putting his specific workload in context, we will be at great risk of over-reacting on some athletes and under-reacting on others. I just don’t want to do that, and I don’t think you do either.”

At the very least it will be fun to see the reaction.

Until next time,

Stay curious and keep fighting the good fight

Coach Wolforth
CEO - The Texas Baseball Ranch®

P.S. The term “overuse” is quite frankly, in my opinion, overused. I obviously look at things from a completely different viewpoint than most medical professionals. I see most injuries not so much as overuse as I do a case of athletes being under-prepared for the specific stress they encounter at game time.

Coach Wolforth's Specific Recommendations:

  • Pitch count is a valid method of assessing and tracking workloads. Just because pitch counts are often over-simplified and/or misapplied by the general baseball culture doesn’t mean they DON’T have merit. Pitch count as a general tool for monitoring workload is absolutely fine. It’s the over-generalized way it is typically utilized with which I have an issue.

  • “Pitches per inning” is a more important measurement of workload in my view, as innings exceeding 25 pitches are for more stressful than innings using less that 15 pitches. In essence, the total pitch count is less important than the way you get there. Spacing 120 pitches over 9 innings is a far less stressful day than 80 pitches over 3 innings.

  • My advice is to pay attention to both total pitch count and pitch count per inning. Start the preseason with a low pitch count of 30 pitches in your athlete’s first outing and incrementally increase that workload over time – based upon how the athlete responds and feels.

  • Pitch count per inning should always be watched carefully and a vast majority of pitchers should never extend their night further after one inning of 35, two innings of 30 or three innings of 25.

  • Personally, I reject the common perspective of “overuse”. Instead, I believe injury occurs when the specific demands, intensity and/or duration exceed the amount of preparation. Most athletes are underprepared and not overused.


    • Coach Wolforth has written six books on pitching including the Amazon Best Seller, Pitching with Confidence.  Since 2003, 122 of the players Wolforth has trained have been drafted and 458 have broken the 90mph barrier.  He has consulted with 13 MLB teams, dozens of NCAA programs and has been referred to as “America’s Go-to-Guy on Pitching” and “The Pitching Coaches Pitching Coach”.  Coach Wolforth lives in Montgomery, Texas with his wife, Jill.  They are intimately familiar with youth select, travel baseball and PG events as their son Garrett (now a catcher in the Cincinnati Reds organization) went through the process.  Garrett still holds the PG Underclass All-American Games record for catcher velocity at 89mph which he set in 2014 at the age of 16.

    If you would like a free copy of Pitching with Confidence, go to freepitchingbook.com.
    Give us your feedback
    General | Blog | 6/16/2026

    Wolforth Throwing Mentorship: Article 66
    Ron Wolforth
    Article Image
      The Number That Just Killed MLB Expansion: 1,217   USA Today's Bob Nightengale dropped a bomb shell recently that the baseball world is still digesting. Major League Baseball wants to expand to 32 teams. Team executives are quietly opposing it and the reason has nothing to do with cities or money.   They cannot find enough healthy pitchers.   Between 2020 and 2024, professional baseball performed 1,026 Tommy John surgeries at the minor-league level alone. Another 191 at the Major League level. More than twelve hundred elbow reconstructions in five years on the best young pitchers in the world.   That is not bad luck. That is a system reporting a verdict on itself.   For fifteen years, the youth-baseball industry has chased one number: velocity significantly more than projectability and arm care.    Recruiters scout by it.    Social...
    Read More
    Tournaments | Story | 7/9/2026

    Windy City Invite & Open Scout Notes: Part 1

    Donovan May
    Article Image
    ’28 RHP Jack Potsma (IL) went 4.0 IP w/ 4 K, running the FB up to 91 mph. Quick, whippy arm w/ a tall, projectable frame. FB had quality arm-side run, while adding a SL. Good control in the delivery w/ the ability to fill up the zone. FB: 87-91 | SL: 68-73 #WCOpen @RaysIllinois pic.twitter.com/8HfMEeamIC — Perfect Game Illinois (@PG_Illinois) July 6, 2026 Jack Postma (2028, Barrington, Ill.) is a tall, projectable 6-foot-5, 195-pound pitcher with a quick, whippy arm and loose, athletic actions. The GRB Rays 16U Illinois Green right-hander ran his fastball up to 91 mph with heavy arm-side run while filling up the zone and inducing weak contact. Postma complemented the fastball with a slider and mixed in a fading changeup, giving him a quality three-pitch mix to build upon. Over 4.0 innings, Postma struck out 4, allowing 4 hits while throwing 66% strikes.  ’27 RHP...
    Read More
    Press Release | Press Release | 7/9/2026

    SHIVERSTICKS NAMED OFFICIAL POPSICLE OF PERFECT GAME

    Article Image
      667 Progress Way | Sanford, FL 32771 | 319-298-2923 www.perfectgame.org | facebook.com/perfectgameusa | @PerfectGameUSA     FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   SHIVERSTICKS NAMED OFFICIAL POPSICLE OF PERFECT GAME   Former MLB All-Star Vernon Wells to Make Select Appearances at Perfect Game Events to Promote the Partnership   Sanford, Florida (Thursday, July 9, 2026) - Perfect Game, the world’s largest youth baseball and softball platform and scouting service, today announced a new partnership with ShiverSticks, naming the Texas-based company the Official Popsicle of Perfect Game. Throughout the travel baseball season, ShiverSticks products will be featured across Perfect Game’s premier events and facilities, with onsite activations, concession integration, digital promotions and social media content designed to introduce players and fans to the...
    Read More
    Tournaments | Story | 7/9/2026

    16u WWBA Scout Notes: Day 3

    Perfect Game Staff
    Article Image
    16u WWBA Scout Notes: Day 1 | Day 2 Carlos Acuna (2028, Sylmar, Cal.) turned in an impressive start on Wednesday, tossing four shutout innings with six strikeouts and just one hit allowed. The 6-foot-1 right-hander filled up all four quadrants of the strike zone with his fastball, which lived in the 86-87 mph range and touched 88 a couple of times. He mixed in a true 12-6 curveball with huge depth down in the zone, and showed comfortability doubling up on the breaking ball. ‘28 Francis Conners-Schmid (NY) was dominant out of the ‘pen, 6 Ks in 2 hitless inn of work. Lived 88-89 & touched 90 multiple times. Sharp horz break to the SL w/ teeth & tight spin (clip). Athletic mover w/ serious 2-way upside. @JKselectBSB #WWBA @PGMidAtlantic pic.twitter.com/z859j3UCEq — Perfect Game Scout (@PG_Scouting) July 8, 2026 Francis Conners-Schmid (2028, East Chatham, N.Y.)...
    Read More
    Tournaments | Story | 7/9/2026

    Future Stars Take Center Stage at 14U BCS

    Alyssa Golden
    Article Image
    The 21st annual 14U BCS National Championship returns to Fort Myers, Florida this Thursday through Monday, bringing many of the nation’s top teams to compete for one of the summer’s premier titles. Seven nationally ranked teams, featuring some of the top prospects in the class of 2030, will take the field looking to prove why they rank among the country’s elite. Headlining the field is No. 25-ranked outfielder James Watson of Canton, Georgia. The No. 9 outfielder in the nation has been one of the most productive hitters in the field this season, posting a 1.227 OPS while batting .394 with eight home runs, 69 RBI and 32 stolen bases over 84 games. Watson has also excelled on the mound, recording a 3.50 ERA with 65 strikeouts in 44 innings while holding opposing hitters to a .181 batting average. The athletic two-way player owns a 94 mph exit velocity, an 88-mph outfield...
    Read More
    Tournaments | Story | 7/8/2026

    Premier Invite Scout Notes

    Perfect Game Staff
    Article Image
    Tripp Merren (‘29 TX) with a pair of missiles off the barrel today including a no-doubt 2-run 💣 and triple later both to RCF. Electric bat speed with easy strength off the barrel. Can really scoot around bases. #PremierInvite pic.twitter.com/VUEHQZ0bmM — Perfect Game Texas (@Texas_PG) July 3, 2026 Tripp Merren (2029, Houston, Texas) took home MVP honors enroute to a big championship win for the Houston Texans Astros Scout Team. Merren stands in at 6-foot-0 from a pretty physical frame at this age. He has the athleticism to go with it and already looks like he has filled out a good bit. Merren fits the mold as a true power hitting corner guy but can play all over on the dirt. He finished the week going 9-15 that included two doubles, a triple, and two homers. He also drove in seven runs and scored nine times. Talk about a complete week and Tripp was simply in the heart of...
    Read More
    Tournaments | Story | 7/8/2026

    16u WWBA Scout Notes: Day 2

    Perfect Game Staff
    Article Image
    16u WWBA Scout Notes: Day 1 ‘28 Rylan Jenkins (GA) hits the bottom of the CF wall for a 2-RBI double; great rhythm to the stroke w/ lots of easy strength in the barrel. 6.46 runner. @BravesScout16u #WWBA @PG_Georgia pic.twitter.com/oxSt7fvsUw — Perfect Game Scout (@PG_Scouting) July 7, 2026 Rylan Jenkins (2028, Tennille, Ga.) found a few loud barrels Tuesday morning, sending a pair of hard liners off the outfield wall. He drove in four runs and crossed home three times himself. The 5-foot-9 lefty hitter takes a smooth path to the baseball with excellent rhythm to the operation. He generates lots of easy strength at the point of contact and consistently produces high exit velocities to the pull-side and middle of the field. Jenkins is extremely twitchy and gets down the line in a hurry. He runs a 6.46 sixty and turns doubles into triples often. Tripp Sapp (2028, Loganville,...
    Read More
    College | Story | 7/7/2026

    USA Collegiate National Team: Stripes

    Craig Cozart
    Article Image
    Collegiate National Team: Stars Notes Quick Hits  Each year at the end of June and beginning of July, top collegiate baseball talent from around the nation arrives in Cary, NC at the USA Baseball National Training Complex.  Typically, the rosters are filled with top underclass, non-draft-eligible talent but this year, we will see a sprinkling of upper-classmen as the coaches evaluate just under 60 players to get to their final 28 roster spots.  For a total of two weeks, the Stars Squad and the Stripes Squad will compete against outside competition in North Carolina as well as Virginia before finishing their slate with 5-games against each other at the NTC Complex.  Once the final roster has been announced the team will depart for Taiwan to compete in the 2026 World Baseball Championships, July 11-15.    CNT Stripes Position Players  Nico Partida ...
    Read More
    Tournaments | Story | 7/8/2026

    13u World Series Notes: Days 3-5

    Perfect Game Staff
    Article Image
    13u World Series Scout Notes: Days 1-2 Chaysten Fuentes (2030, Ewa Beach, HI) worked really well from the right side of the plate ending up with five hits and a double in the last two days. The right handed hitting Hawaiian has a ton of strength to the body. The hands work directly to the ball and can hit to all fields in the approach. Has done an incredible job getting the barrel to almost everything and gets on plane in the turn.  Triston Valdez (2031, Castaic, CA) was electric on day four batting .500 with a double, triple, and five rbis. The barrel is really quick to the ball and works with a level path. Against NY Gotham 13u Ghost, Valdez would not be denied demolishing the bases clearing triple way back into the RCF gap. Stays inside the baseball consistently with the hands and torques it hard.  Christopher Julian Leija (2031, Weslaco, TX) really showed out the last two...
    Read More
    Tournaments | Story | 7/7/2026

    Two Day Rewind at 15u National Elite

    Kinley Kitchens
    Article Image
    Two days into the 2026 Perfect Game 15U National Elite Championship, the storylines are already beginning to take shape. As one of the summer’s premier invite-only events, the tournament annually brings together many of the nation’s top 15U clubs, with 100 elite teams traveling to Hoover in pursuit of a championship. While there is still plenty of baseball left to play, the opening rounds have already produced breakout performances, dominant team victories, and plenty of excitement heading into bracket play. Several nationally recognized organizations entered the week as favorites, including MTBA Dawgs, ranked No. 3 nationally, Wildcatters Baseball at No. 10, and 5 Star Mafia, ranked No. 12. Meanwhile, newer programs like Jason Kidd Select Team have quickly shown they are capable of making noise against the nation’s best. One of the biggest storylines through the first...
    Read More
    Tournaments | Story | 7/7/2026

    15u Elite Scout Notes: Days 1-2

    Troy Sutherland
    Article Image
    Tristan Barton (‘29, TX) has struck out three over three scoreless innings of work, getting a lively FB up to 89. Mixed in a sharp vt CB w/ late bite. Operates from a projectable RH frame w/ length + room to fill. #NatElite @Texas_PG pic.twitter.com/LXfkLOtxdo — Perfect Game Scout (@PG_Scouting) July 5, 2026 Tristan Barton (’29, Gunter, TX) turned in a strong start on Sunday, lasting four innings of one run ball, striking out four. Barton operates from a bigger lengthy right-handed frame with considerable room to fill. He starts with a mid-body handset before working to the belt and into a high compact leg lift. Barton fires down via a compact arm action and high three quarters slot. The Texas native got a run/ride fastball up to 89, living in the mid-80s throughout the outing. He mixed in a sharp 12-6 curveball with vertical depth and late bite. Jack Graviss...
    Read More
    Loading more articles...
    About Perfect Game :: Contact us :: Terms of Use :: Privacy Policy :: Testimonials :: Job Opportunities
    Copyright 1994-2026 by Perfect Game. All rights reserved. No portion of this information may be reprinted or reproduced without the written consent of Perfect Game.