PEORIA, Ariz. — A week ago, Jarred Kelenic found himself 2-0 on the count against Rangers ace Jacob deGrom due to two wicked breaking balls. As so often this spring practice, Kelenic requested his only time out in plate performance after getting two strikes against him.
He needed time to gather his thoughts and slow things down, especially with a runner at first base.
But it was deGrom conceding a three-pointer to Kelenic at 0-2 in the first at-bat that slowed things down.
Kelenic stepped back into the batter’s box and was ready to hit in about four seconds. Under the new MLB pitch clock rules, a batter must be ready to bat and face the pitcher within eight seconds. With a runner on base, deGrom had 20 seconds to deliver the pitch. He was ready when Kelenic was ready.
Instead of delivering pitch in a timely manner, deGrom stayed in the set position and didn’t move. He held the ball and looked at the clock behind home plate and waited. Kelenic waited in his stance, trying to stay relaxed. The 10 seconds that passed seemed endless.
Finally, with a second to go, deGrom fired the pitch to the plate. The inbound ball froze an already static Kelenic who thought it was a ball for a hip strike three.
“It freezes the batsman, which isn’t fair,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “That’s an advantage for the pitcher.”
As part of a four-page memo sent to teams and shared with the media, MLB made some minor changes to the pitch clock rules to combat this type of shenanigans, as well as adjustments based on player reaction.
“On the one hand, we’re willing to make adjustments based on input,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred told reporters Tuesday before the WBC championship game. “On the other hand, we want to give him the opportunity to see exactly how it’s playing out in a few regular-season games over an adjustment period before we make any significant changes.
Among the modifications, a batsman notifies the umpire that he is ready to bat after taking a time-out. It can happen before he enters the batter’s box. Now Kelenic can request a time-out, collect himself, request the clock to start and pit a few seconds later, limiting the time the pitcher can hold the ball.
“There are a lot of guys, myself included, trying to pit early,” said Cooper Hummel. “I think if the pitcher is good at messing around with timing, they will. I’m kind of surprised that not many more pitchers did. For example, the perfect chance is when a guy takes a time out and comes back in the box and you have 20 or 15 seconds to hold it.
Even with the new rules, there is still an opportunity for a pitcher to hold for 7 or 8 seconds, which can still be uncomfortable for hitters.
As a catcher, Hummel wants this from his pitcher: “I want him to hold the ball as long as possible and make the hitter stiff in the batter’s box. Guys who are already statues in it won’t like it.”
As a batsman, he doesn’t even allow that with the rule changes.
“I think I will never call a timeout where a pitcher could gain an advantage,” he said. “If it’s 3-2 and he’s trying to save, I can tell the time. But if I time out at 0-1, 0-2, or 1-2, he might have 3 or 4 pitches left to pull me out.
Hitters don’t want to get into the batter’s box too early for a pitcher to save the ball, but they also don’t want to wait too long and feel rushed or have an auto strike called.
“I’m still trying to figure out the best timing,” Sam Haggerty said. “If you make a rule change like that, you knew the guys would try to take advantage of it. They will try to take advantage of it. That’s only natural. And baseball will fight it with different rules and some parameters and some restrictions.”
AJ Pollock encountered another problem when he didn’t immediately address the pitcher by raising his head, believing that the pitcher could quickly pitch and throw the ball once he raised his head — something Max Scherzer did did this spring. It led to a disagreement with the referee, who charged him with a time-out, and Pollock became upset, saying, “I didn’t ask for a time-out.”
“It went back and forth and it was a younger referee,” Servais said. “I think that affected the hitters more than the pitchers.”
Per The Associated Press: The average time spent in spring training games is down 25 minutes to 2 hours and 36 minutes from 2021. Violations per game were 1.03 last week, compared to 2.03 in the first week of spring training.
The other rule changes include:
- If a catcher finishes the inning on plate, base, or deck, the home plate umpire will add 30 seconds off the 2-minute, 30-second clock between innings if the catcher is making “reasonable effort.” to come out on the field. In this case, a catcher is allowed to receive a warm-up pitch from the pitcher and pitch to the second.
- If a pitcher is off the mound after a play—either to cover a base or to secure throws to a base in foul territory—the 30-second clock is delayed between hitters and does not begin until he is back on the infield grass or Fair Territory is .
- If a batsman’s equipment is thrown out of position after a big swing or brushback pitch, or if a player hits the ground trying to get out of the way, umpires will delay the clock start or cancel an early clock start .
- If the PitchCom unit used to electronically transmit signals between a pitcher and a catcher malfunctions, players must immediately notify the umpires, who will stop the clock.
Perhaps the most amusing aspect of the memo is that it enforces new standards for bat boys and bat girls and their ability to find equipment to speed up play. The league plans to assess the performance of Bat Boys and Bat Girls and could require them to be replaced if their performance is deemed substandard.
More cuts from stock
The Mariners assigned catcher Jacob Nottingham and infielder Jake Schiener to minor league camp.
Nottingham and Scheiner are expected to end up with Triple-A Tacoma. Nottingham, along with Bryan O’Keefe, offer experienced depth of catch, while Scheiner can play both corner positions in infield.
Veteran outfielder Leonys Martin was released. He could try to befriend another MLB team or return to Japan where he has played for the last 3 1/2 seasons.
With the roster moves, the Mariners have 40 players in their major league camp: 31 roster players and 9 non-roster invitees.