Tagged: pace of play
Manfred’s open mindedness can only mean good things
Rob Manfred has been the commissioner of baseball for less than a month so it’s unfair and unrealistic to dish out early grades or talk about the job he’s done. Manfred only began his tenure on January on 26, but there have already been plenty of headlines.
Will new rules be enforced to speed up the pace of games?
Will defensive shifts be eliminated?
Will the strike zone change?
Will Pete Rose’s lifetime ban be lifted?
The answers to these questions and many more will ultimately end up playing a part in how Manfred is viewed, but his open-mindedness and willingness to discuss all these various issues is significant (in no way, shape or form am I saying Bud Selig was close-minded or anything of the sort).
While some fans may be open to the changes and others are vehemently opposed, the fact that Manfred is exploring all options and is open to change is a good sign.
Baseball purists are in love with the way the game is currently played and that’s fine – baseball is a great sport. However, it’s also a bit naïve to believe the game is perfect.
I disagree with some of the proposed changes and agree with others, but I 100 percent agree with having the conversations.
10 Things I’m Watching In 2015: MILB Pitch Clocks
As we count down to Spring Training, here’s the third installment of my ’10 Things I’m Watching In 2015′ series. Today’s focus dips into the Minor Leagues and the pitch clocks that will be featured in AA and Triple-A games.
Pace of play and pitch clocks have been discussed a lot over the past few months and although there won’t be any “20 second clocks” in the big leagues this year, this is still a storyline worth monitoring.
As baseball continues to look for ways to speed up the game and increase the fan experience, pitch clocks will be utilized in both AA and Triple-A games this season. This is a significant step because it shows that after experimenting with pitch clocks in the Arizona Fall League, baseball liked what it saw enough to continue with the new rules.
“It’s something that we’d certainly like to see more testing done with,” Joe Torre, Major League Baseball’s executive vice president of baseball operations, said at the Winter Meetings. “I was never a proponent of introducing the clock in baseball, but I went out [to the AFL], and I was pretty impressed. [The clock] was there, but it really wasn’t intrusive in any way.”
Pitch clocks were enforced at 16 AFL games and the average time of those games was two hours and 42 minutes – 10 minutes quicker than the average AFL game time in 2013.
The use of the pitch clock had a noticeable impact on the pace of the game and if the experiment in the minors goes well, changes may be coming to the majors over the next few seasons.
Pitch clocks have generated a lot of controversy among baseball purists who don’t want to change the way the game has always been played.
However games are getting longer and it would likely be in baseball’s best interest to tackle the pace of play issue sooner – while it is just a minor annoyance – rather than later – when it truly becomes a problem.
Having watched multiple Arizona Fall League games in which the pitch clock was enforced, I came away impressed. The game was noticeably faster and although it felt rushed at time (the system does need fine tuning) it was also an enjoyable experience to watch baseball played at such a crisp pace.
The AFL was a cool experience, but the Minor Leagues will provide baseball with a much larger sample size to evaluate and I’m more than anxious to see how it all plays out.
Recap of previous entries:
San Francisco Giants
Chicago Cubs
Pitch clocks? So far…..I’m a fan
Maybe I’m in the minority, maybe I don’t have enough respect or appreciation for “the way baseball has always been played,” but so far I’m a fan of the new Pace of Play Initiatives.
For those unaware, Major League Baseball’s Pace of Game Committee is testing several time-saving measures in the Arizona Fall League this season.
Most notably, is the 20-second pitch clock and the two minute and five second clock between innings.
Three games have been played with the pitch clock in effect and the average time of those games has been two hours and 38 minutes. In fact, that time is even a bit high since one of the three games went 11 innings.
Now, the system is not perfect, the Fall League is not directly comparable to a Major League game and tweaks need to be made, but there is certainly potential and I’m a fan.
Through three games there have only been three pitch clock violations which shows me the players are capable of speeding up the game when prompted.
There have also been multiple occasions when a batter has stood in the box with 40 seconds left on the “innings-break clock” another sign that players can move faster.
I’ve also talked to multiple position players about the pitch-clocks and while they admit it is a bit strange to get used to, they also have said that they like it and can feel the game moving faster.
However, there are also some changes that may need to be made. There are some times where the pitcher, especially if he shakes off a sign or doesn’t get a sign from the catcher right away, looks rushed.
There will also be some changes in the running game as the pitcher can basically no longer simply step off the rubber. Within the allotted 20 seconds the pitcher either has to throw to the plate or throw over to the base. He can’t just step off and look at the runner – unless he hops back on the rubber real quick and throws a pitch.
I expect tweaks perhaps toward the end of the Fall League or maybe in next year’s AFL, but I would not be surprised to see pitch clocks in the MLB in the future.
And assuming they resemble what they’ve looked like thus far in the AFL, I’ll be a fan.
*The Fall League has 14 more pitch clock games scheduled so if things change or if there are any unusual occurrences as a result of the pitch-clock I will certainly write another post and let you all know.
Boor on Baseball 