Warming Up The Ball
Nicole from Tacoma, WA asks:
While between innings, if someone goes up to the mound to warm the ball up for the pitcher, does that mean the person who had touched the ball HAS to pitch? According to high school rules?
There should not really be a reason why anyone should be warming up the ball for the pitcher since there is no reason for it but no, this person does not need to pitch. According to the MLB rule book, once a pitcher who was previously in the game crosses a foul line on the way to the mound he is required to face at least one batter. I am not sure about the high school rule for this but I would assume that it would be something like this or once he starts warming up.
When it comes down to it the only person who should touch the game ball while warming up is the pitcher or the catcher because there is no reason for a different fielder to be handling it.
Answered by: Jonathan Bravo
Keywords: Pitching