Rules are rules, y’all. But sometimes, rules kind of suck.
That’s probably what Manny Machado is thinking right now. He became the first player to fall victim to one of baseball’s newest rules.
The pitch clock got him, folks.
Baseball has added a pitch clock — along with 5 other new rules — to its game this season. The clock was added in hopes of speeding the game up. Pitchers only have a set amount of time to actually make their pitch now.
Obviously, batters are a huge part of that. They have to be prepared and ready to take the pitch. As part of the new rules, so they don’t slow the pitcher down, the batter has to be ready and engaged with the pitcher in the first 8 seconds of the clock or else they’ll be handed a strike.
Guess who wasn’t ready within the first 8 seconds? Manny. Machado.
Now that we got our first look at the pitch clock, we see our first clock infraction
Manny Machado started off his at-bat, 0-1 because he took too long to get into the box pic.twitter.com/pUcAdyZAkx
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) February 24, 2023
The umpire pointed down to his watch to signal that Machado took too long and then he handed him a strike. He found himself down 0-1 in the at-bat. He made up for it by hitting a single, but this was just kind of bizarre to watch. Not because it’s a bad rule, but because it’s so new.
Machado’s reaction to his violation was priceless, too. He was asked about being the first to be called for the violation and he let us know this absolutely will not be the last time.
Manny Machado talks about being the first player to have a pitch clock violation called on them
"I might be 0-1 down a lot this year" pic.twitter.com/WqrKcwVqaZ
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) February 24, 2023
“I’m going to have to make a big adjustment. I might be 0-1 down a lot this year, man. It’s super fast. It’s definitely adjustment period there’s going to be. But I went down in the history books.”
Great answer, Manny. Probably not the history anyone wants to be known for, but he certainly won’t be the only one for very long.
It’s going to be a weird season, y’all. Buckle in.