The pitch clock has been an adjustment for many pitchers this season and Max Scherzer is no exception. After all, the New York Mets pitcher had a pitch clock violation called on him earlier on in the season that infamously negated a double play.
And now, Scherzer is even running into the pitch clock during between-innings warmups.
On Thursday, between innings against the Philadelphia Phillies, Scherzer was stopped from completing his warmup due to the pitch clock. Scherzer was able to throw seven of his eight warmup pitches, but home plate umpire Tripp Gibson halted the pitcher before his final throw.
Here’s how the incident went down during the game.
Max Scherzer had words with the home plate umpire between innings during his warmup pitches. pic.twitter.com/lAXxzjhRHA
— SNY (@SNYtv) June 1, 2023
After the game, Scherzer went on quite the rant about the pitch clock and how it makes no sense to have one in that situation.
Max Scherzer fully explains what happened between innings with his warmup pitches:
"Why do we need a pitch clock for that situation? Why can't the umpire have discretion?…The umpires are frustrated, as we are, that we're living and dying by the clock." pic.twitter.com/i6PtAB9Fms
— SNY (@SNYtv) June 1, 2023
Scherzer really does have a point here. Pitchers already have a limit on the amount of warmup pitches they can throw, so what’s the point of having a pitch clock too? And according to Scherzer, both pitchers and umpires are frustrated with the way the clock has been implemented so far.
There will always be growing pains with new systems, but the pitch clock could definitely be tuned up a bit more.