This same scenario is what drove me to this forum a year ago. My son, during his 9/10 seasons fall 2017 ( We’re in FL where fall ball is also very prevalent) and spring 2018 was the “ace” on his travel team. A travel team that really only had my son and 1 other boy that could really pitch. The pitch counts and innings pitched that you mentioned resemble a lot of my son’s former workload, especially spring 2018. There were multiple instances the team would be up by 10 or more runs when he was pulled from the mound with 1 out or 1 inning left in the game, only for the team to then lose the game after they pulled him. Frustrating to say the least. I was a naïve baseball mom back then who was just proud of my son and his performances. Believe me, I have learned a lot since then. You and your son are doing the right thing by taking action now. It took my son having an arm injury late last summer to open my eyes. After several visits to the pediatric orthopedic and LOTS of research on the topic, we are now much better advocates for our son. As an athlete, my son plays many sports and was also a year-round competitive swimmer for 3 years until his injury . Research has determined that was too much additional wear and tear on his shoulder and arm as well and he has since given that up and now only swims in a summer swim league. Turns out 1 1/2 hrs of swim practice 6 days a week, followed immediately by baseball practice on 3 of them wasn’t such a hot idea either. We had already decided to leave that travel team and notified his coach before that injury. The injury occurred right after joining his new team ( the better team he had always aspired to play on and was at risk of losing his spot on), after only a couple practices. He missed most of fall ball and only pitched in 2 tournaments- 1 in November and 1 in December. After a long rest and healing for his arm, and armed with proper knowledge of arm exercises and stretches from his doctor, he had a successful spring season with no issues with his new team. We were thankful his new coaches were patient and didn’t give up on him since he was injured right after coming to the team. He is in a much better place now, on a team where ALL the boys pitch. On a travel team, all the boys need to pitch a share of the innings. That’s the only way to preserve al the boys’ arms when there are so many games in 2-3 days. Very grateful that we learned, made adjustments and switched teams as early as we did, before a more serious injury could occur. This year, he took the whole summer off with no throwing-- a first for him as his dad would always have him out at the fields practicing all summer in past years. He is now back at it, as his team just started up fall practices. While fall baseball is VERY common and can also be quite competitive in FL, our team plays a very relaxed schedule in the fall, usually only about 3 tournaments between Sept-Dec., allowing him to also play basketball and flag football too. Knowledge is power. You are doing the right thing to make the right changes now, BEFORE an injury. So glad that we did when we did, just sorry it took an injury to open our eyes.
