As one of baseball’s top prospects, Grayson Rodriguez could make his debut with the Baltimore Orioles very soon. Then the 23-year-old right-hander can start adjusting to the big leagues.
At least he’ll have one advantage: He’s had experience with the pitch clock that was tested in the minors and will now be implemented in the majors.
“I was a big proponent of that,” he said. “Obviously it speeds up the game. As a pitcher, in a way, that’s what you want. Major league hitters take a long time to get to the plate. That drives me crazy. So this pitch clock sort of streamlines the process. I like it a lot”.
Not everyone is so happy with the novelty. Whether you’re a pitcher, a catcher, a batter or a runner on the bases, there’s no hiding from this rule change. Of all the changes under Commissioner Rob Manfred’s orders, the pitch clock would be the one that would affect virtually all players the most.
The clocks shall be located behind home plate and beyond the outfield so as to be visible to pitchers and batters. They will conduct a 30-second countdown between each batter.
And between one pitch and another of the same turn, the count will be 15 seconds —20 if there is a runner on any of the bases. The pitcher must begin his pitching motion before time runs out.
After a pitch, the clock will start again when the pitcher has returned the ball, the catcher and batter are in the circle around home plate, and there are general conditions to resume activity.
Therefore, good communication between the catcher and the pitcher will be key, since time will be running out. The batter will also have responsibility: he needs to be in the box and alert the pitcher when there are at least eight seconds left on the clock.
Batters may call timeout once per turn, stopping the clock.
“In a way, we’re going to have to shorten our routine at the plate, cleaning the box or talking to the umpire or the catcher,” said Michael Harris II, Atlanta outfielder and last NL Rookie of the Year. “I went through some of this in Double-A, so I know how it works and how I can speed up the game, but I guess it’s just going to take some getting used to.”
The goal is actually to speed up the pace of matches, specifically limiting the parts of matches that many fans find tedious.
According to Major League Baseball’s bureau, the pitch clock cut the average length of a nine-inning game last year in the minors by 25 minutes, from 3 hours, 3 minutes in 2021 to 2:38.
And other stats, such as runs per game, batting average and number of batters hit, were largely unchanged.
“Games have been shortened but not at the expense of development,” said Joe Martinez, a former major league pitcher and current vice president of Major League Baseball on-field strategy. “What was really taken out of the game was the timeout, where pitchers walk around the mound, hitters adjust their gloves, throw extra pitches in the bullpen or walk around.”
Games at the start of the season, in the second week, included an average of 1.73 fouls. By the 24th week, the figure dropped to 0.41.
In one poll, about 90% of pitchers and other players said they adjusted to the clock in about a month. If the major league players get it done quickly, they should be done by the end of preseason.
However, there is a difference between minor league players who want to do what they are told and veterans of the majors, used to a certain way of working. In addition, the amount of information available to Major League players can lead to duels between pitcher and batter having a physical as well as a mental nature.
“In this sport, the important thing is strategy and finding ways to remove rivals. I think that’s unique in baseball,” said Vince Velasquez, Pittsburgh’s right-hander. “There’s a lot of talent scattered around the league, and the hitters will do their homework just as much as we do, but I think it takes a little more time to come up with a strategy and find ways to incorporate those things.”
Velasquez doesn’t like the pitching clock. His teammate, catcher Kevin Plawecki, is worried about fouling.
“I feel like when you start automatically calling strikes, balls, intentional walks and possibly automatic runs just based on a mispass or a throw to the bases, it changes the integrity of the game,” Plawecki said.
When a pitcher does not make his pitch on time, he will be penalized by marking a ball. If the batter is not ready in time, an automatic strike will be called.
The clock can easily be missed if the pitcher simply misses the plate or throws to the bases. To prevent these resources from being abused, casters can only opt for them twice each turn.
Time runs again after the caster resorts to one of the two alternatives mentioned. Once the limit is exhausted, the pitcher may still try to raise the bases, but he better retire the runner, because if he gets back to the bag and is safe, he will be balked and awarded the next base. .
The restriction on base raises would serve two purposes. It would limit a tedious aspect of baseball — fans often boo those throws to bases by visiting pitchers. On the other hand, it would encourage aggressive base running in a game increasingly defined by home runs and strikeouts.
In tryouts within the minors, steal attempts increased from 2.23 per game in 2019 to 2.81 last year. The success rate improved from 68 to 78%.
“Whenever there’s a new rule or something put in place, you think you know what’s going to happen, and then people use this as a weapon to their advantage,” said Philadelphia shortstop Trea Turner, who has 230 career steals with an 85% success rate. “Hopefully there will be more stolen bases for everyone. This will just be more exciting.”