![]() ![]() So I think I have to be a little more conscious, knowing that I have more time than I think I do.” Get behind in the count 2-and-0 quickly, I think it speeds up even more. “I’ve always been kind of quick but having the pitch clock up, I’m even quicker now, which isn’t good. “I think it’s kind of hurt me a little bit,” Walker said of the pitch clock. ![]() Walker said he wasn’t even aware that he was speeding up. If so, he hasn’t taken advantage of it yet. (Hint: it’s Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Taijuan Walker.) You might think he had a natural advantage over his peers because he was already pacing himself within MLB’s limits. “I’m keeping my time in mind, always,” Graterol said. (Hint: it’s Dodgers reliever Brusdar Graterol.) Turns out, he hasn’t put a minute of thought into the new rules. You might think that Pitcher B was deliberate about changing his methods. Let’s compare their stats before and after the pitch clock: This year, he’s the fastest-working pitcher on his team, at 12.8 seconds (bases empty) and 14.3 seconds (runners on).Ĭare to guess which pitcher had the better month of April? (Tick, tock, tick, tock…) At 18.0 seconds between pitches with the bases empty, and 20.7 seconds with runners on base, an adjustment needed to be made. He’s down to 11.7 seconds (bases empty) or 16.0 seconds (runners on), according to Statcast. Only two pitchers (excluding position players) have been quicker to deliver the baseball this season. Nonetheless, Pitcher A sped up – by a lot. Since pitchers now have 15 seconds to throw from the time they receive the ball from the catcher with the bases empty, and 20 seconds with runners on, Pitcher A did not have to adjust his tempo to comply with the new rules. His average time between pitches, according to Statcast, was 15.1 seconds. Pitcher A was already fast by 2022 standards. I’ll keep them anonymous for now because their names are less important than their relationship to an often-discussed but still underappreciated aspect of baseball in 2023: the pitch timer.īoth pitchers are considered “fast” in comparison to their peers. This is a story about Pitcher A and Pitcher B. ![]()
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