Tag: MLB Pitch Clock

Cubs’ Marcus Stroman was called for the first regular season pitch-clock violation in MLB history

Marcus Stroman is now the answer to a future MLB trivia question.

Get ready to see a lot of pitch-clock violations in the weeks to come.

Opening Day 2023 is well underway as baseball is officially back! Things will look a bit different this year in Major League Baseball, as the league introduced a pitch clock. This will help speed along games by forcing pitchers to throw to hitters quicker and while batters have to step into the box faster.

And now, we officially have our first called pitch-clock violation in the regular season after Chicago Cubs pitcher Marcus Stroman failed to beat the clock while pitching to Christian Yelich. Stroman was assessed a ball for the violation.

Neat piece of MLB history right there!

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Mets fans hilariously embraced basketball tactics to confuse players on the pitch clock

We probably should have seen this coming.

Not everyone is a proponent of the new pitch clock implemented in Major League Baseball, which fans are currently getting their first taste of in spring training.

Still, that doesn’t mean they can’t have a little fun with it.

During a matchup between the New York Mets and the Washington Nationals on Friday, Mets fans trolled the Nats players by treating the pitch clock like basketball fans treat the shot clock in hopes of inducing a balk.

They chanted the wrong numbers hoping to throw off the pitchers’ timing, and I have to admit, it’s not the worst strategy I’ve ever seen.

Whether you support the new pitch clock — which undoubtedly speeds up the pace of play to a considerable degree — it shouldn’t be surprising to see fans try to use it to their advantage.

Is it effective? Perhaps, only time will tell. Is it absolutely hilarious? Without a doubt.

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Max Scherzer had a double play erased by a split-second pitch clock violation

The negated double play led to an eight-run Washington Nationals inning.

Major League Baseball’s new pitch clock is either a godsend for the sport or ruining the game, depending on who you talk to. For New York Mets ace Max Scherzer, it was a little of both Friday.

Scherzer made news earlier this spring for saying he’d use that new clock to his advantage in order to “mess with the hitter’s timing.” That, combined with PitchCom technology that connects pitchers and catchers without the use of hand signals, gives the 15-year veteran a new edge to test when it comes to shutting down opposing offenses.

But Friday, that new rule wiped out a double play that would have helped Scherzer out of an early jam in a spring training showdown with the Washington Nationals.

With runners at the corners, Scherzer failed to deliver his 0-0 pitch to Nationals catcher Riley Adams before the 20 second time limit expired. As a result, his soft grounder to third base and the two outs that followed were wiped off the scorecard and replaced with a ball. That took a run off the scoreboard for Washington and briefly looked like it would be a moot point after Adams struck out — a strikeout that came after Scherzer got him with a little pitch clock subterfuge.

Instead, it was the precursor to disaster. An RBI groundout, single and home run helped chase the veteran starter in what would become an eight-run inning for the Nats. Scherzer’s final line included seven runs allowed, but a pair of errors from shortshop Luis Guillorme ensured those were unearned.

Yankees’ pitcher Wandy Peralta may have just tossed the fastest strikeout in MLB history

This is video game stuff, man

Major League Baseball’s new pitch clock is something it’s going to take a lot of time for most of us to get used to.

Don’t get it twisted — it’s a good thing. We’re already seeing faster game times. It definitely has its warts, but this is something that will ultimately benefit the sport of baseball in the end. Pitchers also seem to love it — a lot.

Why? This at-bat from the Pirates’ outfielder Tucupita Marcano shows us exactly what the deal is.

He may have just had the quickest strikeout in MLB history against the Yankees’ Wandy Peralta. Not only did it take just 3 pitches to strike Marcano out, but those pitches also all came within a few seconds of each other.

All it took was 8 seconds for Marcano to fall down 0-2 in the count.

Jomboy actually clocked the at-bat at 20 seconds. THAT’S IT.

The pace was jarring for me sitting at home watching this on my laptop. It felt like watching someone repeatedly tap X while playing MLB: The Show where you can move forward quickly.

So, of course, Marcano probably wasn’t completely prepared for the speed Peralta was moving at. He didn’t seem to be, anyway.

Pitchers are going to catch batters off guard with some of these pitches all season long. There’s not a lot of pausing between pitches anymore — batters have to stay at the ready. If they don’t, they’ll end up like Marcano did here.

Again, this is going to take some time to get used to. We’ll see how batters adjust throughout the season.