After one day of enforcing new pitch clock rules in the minor leagues, supporters of faster action and shorter games will be encouraged. Per J.J. Cooper of Baseball America, yesterday’s games were more than 25 minutes shorter on average. The pitch clock is set to 14 seconds with the bases empty and 18 seconds with men on base, but equally important is the fact that batters are expected to remain in the box. The experiment will last all season long, and enforcement is expected to be stricter this year than with smaller-scale experiments of past seasons. If yesterday’s sample is any indication, these changes could very well be on their way to the Majors. With all this extra time, let’s check in elsewhere around the game…
- When the Mariners traded for right-hander Matt Brash at the 2020 trade deadline, their interest was based on a 71-pitch sample from the 5 1/3 innings in High-A that, at that point, made up the entirety of Brash’s professional career. Because of the pandemic, he wasn’t pitching in the minor leagues where the Mariners (or Padres, for that matter) could gather more data. He was at home in Canada lifting weights, per The Athletic’s Corey Brock, who charts the path Brash took from Niagara University to the big leagues. Brash was a surprise addition to the Major League roster this season, making his theoretical breakout an inflection point that could impact the American League West. It’s too early to tell, but Brash is certainly worth keeping an eye on.
- Javier Baez and the Cubs were on the verge of an extension when the pandemic hit in 2020, per Gordon Wittenmyer of NBC Sports Chicago. Timing is everything, however. It was timing that allowed those young Cubs stars to converge for a 2016 title, and it was the timing of their free agencies that ultimately pushed Cubs leadership to ship them out.
PSA: Matt Brash wasn’t in the Austin Nola trade
Actually he was, he was player to be named later
No he wasn’t. He was traded for whoever Taylor Williams is.
Actually I remember you are right he was for Taylor Williams
Cubs cleaned house. They will be mediocre for the next 3-5 years.
So pretty much like they’ve been for the last 4 years?
More like the last year and a half. They made the playoffs every year from 2015 to 2020. A bit better than mediocre.
Do it again and we’ll be impressed. Tier 2 team with a fluke title.
Cardinals cheat more than any team in baseball but yet their fan base act like they are better than everyone.
619bird…funny, I didn’t see where it said the 2016 Cubs World Series title was a fluke. Oh, just because you said it was…then their W.S. is a fluke. Dang it lol. 619bird has to be impressed in order for it not to be a fluke. FOH…lmao.
10 transition TC!
Instead of a pitch clock, call the strike zone and make hitters swing the bat.
There are so many more pitches outside the strike zone called a strike than inside the strike zone called a ball. It’s why the pitchers don’t want robo ump.
Does anyone know what the penalty is for a pitcher exceeding the clock??? And, good luck keeping a batter in the box.
I believe a pitcher being too slow results in a BALL call and a batter being too slow results in a STRIKE call.
Thanks Fred. I guess that’s the logical penalty. Little more harsh for the batter than the pitcher though.
Batter was late timed and got a strike. Part of an 8-pitch inning
8-pitch 3 Ks
Not as many than there are strikes missed because the pitcher “missed his target”.
What’s an issue is this universal timer they have for bullpen players to get to the field. They stop the players to inspect them but don’t give them extra time. That inspection time comes out of the players time. It doesn’t pause.
Like Peter Moylan was talking about, it’s silly that the have the same time for a visiting bullpen arm to get on the field at petco park as they do for you to walk over from the line at Tropicana field. Manfred is trying to change everything single thing about this game. I still have to watch a baby in a black uniform cry that no one wants to watch him, who let alone can’t do the single most important job they have. Call balls and strikes.
The Rockies are using the first two weeks of the season as an opportunity to give the finger to all their critics. Until reality inevitably sets in, I applaud their efforts.
I always thought of their quick start and eventual mid-season decline due to the constant altitude adjustments that wear down the players.
The Rockies are always strong at the beginning of the season….then they fade
I doubt the M’s went after Brash based on his minor league performance. Teams don’t shred scouting reports after the draft, especially these days with data storage capabilities. Likely a M’s scout or two liked Brash in college, maybe lobbied for him to be drafted; maybe they were going to draft him, just later than the Pads did. Then they followed him, as they do many, many others.
FWIW, I bit and did the $1/month for whatever for the Athletic, thinking it would be a better source than others. I unsubscribed; it’s pretentious as hell, with no reason to be. It really isn’t worth the buck, never mind what they normally charge.
The Athletic article reported that the Mariners had one positive report on Matt Brash from his time at Niagara University but when San Diego executive A.J. Preller called 30 minutes before the trade deadline the Seattle staff dug up Brash’s 71-pitch minor league sample.
With 10 minutes to go, Seattle executive Jerry Dipoto reportedly asked Preller about Brash’s availability.
And the deal went down.
The details are in The Athletic piece.
I’m a big fan of the Athletic, YMMV depending on specific teams/cities/sports you are interested in, but I definitely think it’s worth the money.
Correct me if I am wrong but isn’t there already a rule that batters have to stay in the box and if so why are the umpires allowed to pick and choose what rules they enforce ????
Baseball is going from chess to candyland with these rules. Leave it alone and get the ball into the playing field so we can prioritize athleticism and speed again!
It doesn’t matter anymore if the Cubs were on the verge of a extension with Baez, it didn’t happen. I’m not sure it was ever going to happen. Time for Gordon Wittenmyer and other Cubs fans who want to keep dwelling on Baez Bryant and Rizzo to move on. These players have and signed elsewhere.
Yes they had 1 fluke year out of the last 115 years. Move on!
Who’s “dwelling”? The article was written by a Cub beat writer. Every team has em and they all write the same type of woulda shoulda articles.
And by the way, “themed”- try a new one. Your act is older than Busch stadium.
Busch stadium is one of the newer stadiums in the game today donk.
16. Almost as old as your one liners.
The pitch clock is honestly not that bad. You’re never going to notice it unless you intentionally go out of your way to notice it. It doesn’t massively alter the game in the case of the extra inning ghost runner rule.