MLB Pitch Clock: Do Menlo Students Approve?

by JAKE LIEBERMAN

Major League Baseball has incorporated a pitch clock in an effort to speed up the game. With the MLB and the sport of baseball in general receiving widespread criticism for its slow pace, MLB Commissioner Robert Manfred finally decided to implement the pitch clock starting in the 2023 season.

Senior Colin Dhaliwal, a pitcher on the varsity baseball team, isn’t a fan of the change. “I think they overstepped with what they were trying to do,” Dhaliwal said. “From early spring training games, there have been a lot of instances where people are getting strikes or balls called on them with eight seconds left on the pitch clock, so I think they need to adjust the rules.” However, Dhaliwal also noted that he thinks the intention to speed up the game is good. As Dhaliwal is continuing his baseball career at Babson next year, he is excited to have the pitch clock in college, as he’s noticed it has worked better in college than in the MLB.

Back in September of 2022, the MLB announced three rule changes that got approved by the league’s Competition Committee, which is responsible for pitching and incorporating new ideas throughout the game of baseball

Throughout this season, and likely going forward, there will be a 30-second timer between batters. In between pitches, there is a 15-second timer which takes place where there are no runners on base and a 20-second timer with runners on base.

The pitcher must start his motion to deliver the pitch before the timer expires, and if this doesn’t occur, there will be an automatic ball added to the count. On the other hand, if the hitter isn’t ready by the time the pitch-clock expires, a strike is added to the count.

Baseball doesn’t have the pace of other popular American sports, such as basketball, but Dhaliwal noted that could be used to baseball’s advantage. “The point of going to a baseball game is hanging out, you’re talking with a friend and taking in the experience, rather than constantly watching the action,” Dhaliwal said.

The Athletic, a sports outlet owned by the New York Times, recently released an article on the pitch clock and its effects on players in various positions. Pitchers and hitters will both be rushed, and stealing bases should be far easier. For example, Baltimore Orioles outfielder Cedric Mullins believes that 50 stolen bases is a realistic goal, an increase from the 30 and 34 that he’s had in the past two seasons.

Fellow varsity pitcher and senior Jake Bianchi believes the idea is good, but he is also adamant about wanting to see changes made to the protocol. “Recently, a pitcher was [taking advantage] of the system. The second the batter stepped into the batting box, [the pitcher] pitched and and because he had already used his one allowed timeout per at bat there was nothing he could do about it,” Bianchi said. While Bianchi likes the overall trajectory of the pitch clock idea, he believes there may need to be some adjustments.

Junior pitcher Ryan Schnell has mixed feelings about the pitch clock. “I think the MLB implementing the pitch clock was a good idea at first, because the general idea of speeding up games is very important,” Schnell said. Overall though, Schnell believes it takes a lot of “gamesmanship out of baseball between the pitcher and the batter.”