How to Keep a Pitching Log (That You'll Actually Maintain)

Every pitching coach says "keep a log." Almost nobody explains what goes in it, so players start a notebook in March and abandon it by April. Here's the version that survives a season.

Track these, nothing more

• Games: date, opponent, outs recorded, pitches, strikes, hits, runs, earned runs, walks, strikeouts.
• Bullpens: date, focus pitch, pitches, strikes, top velocity, how it felt (1–5).

That's it. Logs die from ambition — the 40-column version gets abandoned; the 10-column version compounds into gold.

Record outs, not innings

Baseball's ⅓-inning notation is a trap: 5.2 innings + 5.2 innings is NOT 11.4. Log outs recorded (17 + 17 = 34 outs = 11⅓ innings) and let a spreadsheet convert. Every hand-kept ERA I've ever checked was wrong for exactly this reason.

The 2-minute routine

Same trigger every time: cleats off, log filled. Game rows on game days, pen rows on pen days. Ten seconds of honesty about how the arm felt is the most valuable column six weeks later.

What the data tells you by June

• Strike % trend across bullpens — command is a line, not a feeling.
• Velocity vs. rest days — most players discover their best outings follow specific rest patterns.
• Pitch counts vs. league limits — flags before soreness, not after.

You can build this in any spreadsheet — or start from our Player Season HQ, which does the outs-to-ERA math, strike % trends, and Pitch Smart flags automatically.