MLB Pitch Clock an Interesting Proposal That Needs to be Refined Before Implementation

The new commissioner of Major League Baseball, Rob Manfred, addressed some of baseball game speed issues, among other topics, on Sunday.

In an interview with ESPN’s Karl Ravech, the commissioner stated that he would like the implement an MLB pitch clock. This would force pitchers to deliver the pitch within a certain time frame–most likely twenty seconds.

The pitch clock is interesting because of the variables that surround it. For those who don’t know, the pitch clock was tested in the Arizona Fall League this past year. The pitch clock allows for pitchers to get their sign from the catcher and deliver the pitch within a twenty second time frame. According to Fangraphs, no team in MLB had a pitch pace under twenty seconds in 2014. The 2014 MLB pace ranged between 21.1-25.6 seconds. As the 2014 data suggests, a pitch clock would force teams to adjust their pace. The pitch clock makes sense for game speed issues, but there should be some concerns about this implementation.

This past Arizona Fall League season, Astros prospect Mark Appel was pitching in the stretch and stepped off the mound with a runner on first. Appel assumed that stepping off would re-set the pitch clock, but that did not happen. Instead, the twenty second clock ran out and Appel was charged with a ball. That is the first issue that will come up with the pitch clock–what are the reset restrictions? I assume that the pitch clock would reset whenever a pick-off attempt occurs, but what determines a pick-off attempt, or a valid one at that? If a runner is on second base and Appel fakes a pick-off to second base, will the clock reset? Is the motion of a pick-off enough to validate a clock reset? Speaking as a former college pitcher, I’d say yes. Sometimes faking a pick-off is the right play.

A scenario where this makes sense is if a runner is on second with less than two outs and the pitcher wants to see if the batter is going to commit to bunting. It may or may not work, but it is still a useful tactic in some cases. If the clock doesn’t reset without a throw, this aspect of the game goes away.

Another interesting scenario with the pitch clock is if a pitcher gets dirt in their eye or is sweating and needs to dry his hand with the rosen bag. I doubt that the clock would reset in that scenario, but this situation happens and is relatively unpredictable.

As I have outlined above, there are a few issues with the pitch clock, but the biggest may be clock resets. I would suggest that if baseball implements the pitch clock, they take an approach similar to the NBA and NFL that work within specific clock parameters and have timeouts. How crazy does that sound, though? Timeouts in baseball? It makes sense because of the unpredictable scenarios I have outlined above where the pitcher needs a clock reset.

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The issue with timeouts becomes the amount that baseball allows. Do you work with team timeouts or just player specific? I honestly have no idea. You may agree or disagree with my idea, but with the scenarios I outlined above, the issue is real. If Appel had team or player specific time outs, he could have avoided the forced ball call. I’m not sure my idea is perfect, but if baseball is going to implement a pitch clock, they’re going to need to address clock resets because the last thing they want is a game decided by a forced ball-four call.

While I outlined a concern with the pitch clock, it would have its benefits. The benefits that go along with a pitch clock will be the pace of play, which should increase. The pitch clock will force pitchers and catchers to be on the same page. Instead of working through a series of pitch calls, the two will need to be on the same page to avoid a pitch delay.

The pitch-clock also would have an impact on hitters, too. Instead of being able to step out of the box and take a practice swing, hitters must keep at least one foot in the box at all times. The reason the pace I listed above may be slightly skewed is the fact that hitters have a routine that they go through prior to getting into the box. The pitch clock should reduce or even eliminate some of the batting rituals in MLB. All-in-all, I think the pitch clock makes sense from a time perspective, but the MLB needs to outline the re-set parameters for me to be fully committed.

My suggestion on the pitch-clock would be to go ahead with it following testing it in minor league baseball. This will give the Commissioner the greatest chance to evaluate the new system and make any changes prior to implementing in MLB games. I would also suggest a clear definition of resets and possibly offering time outs to pitchers for events that a unforseeable. The suggestions above are precautionary measures that must be taken to avoid any in game confussion. As we saw with the blocking the plate rule, if there is not a clear interpretation of the rule, it leaves a gray area for the umpires to interpret. As long as game speed and clock resets are properly addressed, a pitch clock in baseball is a step in the right direction.