Tag: Pitch Clock violation

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.

Manny Machado made a little MLB spring training history with a pitch clock violation and he had the best reaction to it

Going to have to speed things up a bit, Manny.

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. 

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.

“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.