On Friday night, we went to the Dodger game where Ted Lilly was on the mound, and I noticed something I’d never seen before. During at least a couple (if not all – I wasn’t paying attention earlier in the game) of Lilly’s warm-ups right before the top of an inning, he threw his first three pitches from behind the mound, rather than on it. They didn’t seem to be pitches at all, really – rather, just throwing the ball to the catcher to get his arm loose.
As far as we could tell, these counted as warm-up pitches (he subsequently threw only five pitches from the rubber prior to the inning beginning). I’m wondering what the rule book says about warm-up pitches. Does any ball the pitcher throws – from and to anywhere on the field – prior to the inning beginning count as a warm-up toss? Are there any other pitchers who regularly do warm-ups while not on the mound?
Pitchers often throw a couple from behind the mound to get more of an “uphill” angle on those throws, which seems to make it easier for them to keep the ball down when they’re throwing downhill on the mound. I never cared for it, but that’s the logic.
To my knowledge, there is not a set-in-stone limit to warm up pitches. Yes, the ump will encourage you to wrap it up after 8 (or 5 if it’s your 2nd inning or later in lower levels), but if the pitcher requests one or two more, he can usually be accomodated, especially if it’s his first inning of work.
It is pretty rare for pitchers to throw any from behind the mound, but if Lilly was trying to work on something or trying to loosen up a stiff arm or, as **Barkis Is Willin’ **said, trying to focus on getting better down angle, he might be inclined to do so.
On my high school age team, we have the kids warm up by throwing a few pitches from behind the mound in the bullpen to get them throwing a little longer distance and really stretching out the muscles, but I don’t actually recall seeing any pitcher at any level doing that on the diamond during the game. But yes, as **jonesj2205 **noted, the rules stipulate a maximum of 8 pitches between innings and throws from behind the mound count. I dont recall if it’s in the official rules (it probably is) but teams also have exactly 2 minutes between innings, so if the pither lollygags his way out to the mound, he might not even get his 8.
Thanks for the responses so far. I guess I’m wondering if Rule 8.03 leaves any wiggle room as to how a pitch is defined, since Lilly wasn’t actually on the mound. If he’d decided to make those tosses to his first baseman, instead, would that have counted?
The umpire would determine that. The answer will vary, but if the spirit of the rule is being violated, most umps would **pounce **on it. Heck, they’d see it as a challenge, so the odds are good an ump would be all over it.
Based on the quoted rule any throw to the catcher before the start of the inning is a preperatory pitch.
I suppose it makes sense. I’ve seen guys throw a couple to the first baseman when, say for example, the leadoff hitter is not ready yet. I’m still inclined to think that if a pitcher requests more it will be granted. I’m also curious what the penalty is for the 9th warm up pitch.
I assume “ball one” is the correct penalty. That is the same penalty for a pitcher taking too long between pitches and the purpose of the rule for warm up pitches is the same - to avoid delay.