NEW YORK – Implementing a pitch clock at all the levels in the minor leagues has been hailed as a success, shortening games by 30 minutes, but there might be some backlash if it’s enforced in the Major Leagues next year.
In the minor leagues, pitchers have 14 seconds to deliver a pitch (18 or 19 seconds with a runner on base). Hitters must be ready to hit with nine seconds on the pitch clock. If a pitcher takes too long, it’s an automatic ball. If a hitter isn’t in the batter’s box on time, he’s charged with a strike.
There’s no doubting the effectiveness of a pitch clock in shortening games. The average minor league game is completed in two hours, 36 minutes, according to USA Today. That’s a sharp drop from the average time of 3:04 last year. The Dayton Dragons, the Cincinnati Reds’ High-A affiliate, had a nine-inning game last week that finished in 1:59.
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Players who don’t like the pitch clock respond to the shorter games with a question of their own: At what cost?
“I personally didn’t care for it a whole lot; I really didn’t,” said Reds reliever Buck Farmer, who made 20 relief appearances at Triple-A this year. “Did it speed the game up? You have to argue that it kind of did. It forced guys to get in the box. It forced guys to get back on the mound. We’re averaging probably 2 ½-hour games, but I mean in the grand scheme of things, are 30 minutes that big of a (deal)? So, a fan watches eight innings instead of nine?”
The pitch clock could be implemented in the Majors as early as next season. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred says it’s a priority for owners. The average time of game this year is three hours, seven minutes, according to Baseball-Reference. The average time of game was 2:29 in 1976, 2:44 in 1985 and 2:54 in 2010, and continually creeping up. It peaked at 3:11 last season.
It doesn’t help that games have become so much more reliant on three true outcomes: Homers, walks and strikeouts. Games are longer and there is less action than ever before.
The issue with the pitch clock, multiple pitchers say, is they often feel rushed. If they shake off a catcher’s sign, they’re worried about the clock instead of the pitch choice. If a pitcher is throwing multiple uncompetitive pitches out of the strike zone, there is no opportunity to reset their focus.
“It’s hard to call a game,” said Reds catcher Michael Papierski, who played in 40 games at Triple-A this year. “Sometimes, it takes a couple of seconds to think over what you want to do. Then when you’re in the box, say you take a pitch right down the middle and you want to take a breather to reset, you can’t even reset. You can’t even get out of the box. I just think it’s a little too fast. The game of baseball has been around for so long. I don’t know. I just think the game shouldn’t be hurried up.”
Said Farmer: “The biggest thing is there are no breaks. There is no calling time, no nothing. I think that’s going to be a huge, huge adjustment.”
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It’s hard to imagine some of the league’s greatest players being forced to change their routines next year. How will Max Scherzer or Madison Bumgarner react when an umpire charges them with an automatic ball because they took two seconds too long to throw a pitch?
There have been minor league games this year when an inning completely changed because a pitcher walked a guy with an automatic ball in a 3-2 count.
“It’s kind of bizarre too because you have to be delivering your pitch by the time the clock hits zero, so you have to start your delivery by the time the clock hits two,” Farmer said. “I’ve also been on the winning side of that where guys have gotten called for a strike just because the hitter has to be back in the box, ready to take the pitch by nine seconds. There were many times where guys got called strikes because even though their foot was in the box, they technically weren’t ready to hit by the time that clock hit nine seconds.”
Another rule in the minor leagues is pitchers are limited to two pickoff attempts per plate appearance. A pitcher can attempt a third pickoff move, but he will be charged with a balk if he is unsuccessful at throwing out the runner.
One side effect with the pitch clock is runners know when a pitcher must begin his delivery, so it’s easier to time things up when attempting to steal bases.
“They’re going to pick up on when you’re going to throw,” Reiver Sanmartin said through an interpreter. “It’s difficult. It takes the game out of what the game actually is.”
Said reliever Ian Gibaut, who doesn’t mind the pitch clock: “That’s just a straight competitive advantage for the runner. That’s really the only thing. Trying to implement it without it affecting the game outcome too much. You still want to play how it’s supposed to be played.”
It’s obvious what MLB wants to achieve by adding a clock into a timeless game. A better pace should attract more fans. Limiting pickoff attempts will help create more stolen bases, a part of the game that doesn’t exist as it once did.
“While it tends to speed the game up, I think sometimes it speeds the game up in the wrong direction,” Farmer said. “People think, all right, it’s going to speed the game up. At the same time, what if a guy keeps throwing ball after ball. I’ll be curious to see how it works out. I think there are going to be a lot of guys here, that have been established and have been around for a while that don’t know about it. It’s going to be different.”
Sanmartin views himself as a pitcher who moves quickly and likes to stay in a rhythm. He’s young and can adapt, but he admits the pitch clock was tough for him in Triple-A.
“Overall, it puts a lot of pressure on you because you have that clock against you,” Sanmartin said. “I don’t have a say if it’s going to work or not (in MLB), but in reality, I don’t think it’s as great as it could be.”
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