Major League Baseball (MLB) introduced a “pitch clock” this season. Pitchers have 15 seconds to throw a ball with no runners on base and 20 seconds with runners in scoring position. It’s not easy to adapt to such a sudden change. For some pitchers, it’s especially difficult.
Alex Vecchia, a left-handed bullpen pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, is one of those few. Last season, he had one of the longest pitching intervals in the league. It took him 24.5 seconds with no runners on base and 27.5 seconds with runners in scoring position.
So far this season, Vecchia hasn’t violated the pitch clock once. Vecchia posted a 2.19 ERA in 54.1 innings last season. This season, he has an 8.00 ERA in 18 innings. “I think the shorter intervals between pitches has affected his rhythm,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told FOX Sports.
Most pitchers who have had longer intervals between pitches have struggled this season, including Vecchia. Kyle Finnegan (Washington), Kenley Jansen (Boston), A.J. Minor (Atlanta), and Giovanny Gagne (St. Louis). Along with Vecchia, they were among the 10 pitchers with the longest pitching intervals last season.
Minter saw his ERA skyrocket from 2.06 last season to 5.68 this season. As for Yanson, his ERA has improved slightly, but his metrics have deteriorated, with more walks and fewer strikeouts.
The exception is Milwaukee closer Devin Williams. Williams had the fifth-longest pitch count in the league last season. He’s violated his pitch clock twice this season, but has a 1.99 ERA. He had a sub-zero ERA until he was blasted for four runs without recording a single out in Minnesota on April 14.
Pitch clock is something that both pitchers and hitters will have to adjust to, but so far, it’s the pitchers who are struggling a bit more. According to FOX Sports, there have been more than twice as many pitch clock violations by pitchers (413) than by hitters (169) through 13 days.먹튀검증
However, the positive effects of the pitch clock have been significant. The average time per game this season is 2 hours, 37 minutes, the shortest since 1984, FOX Sports reported. We’re probably never going to go back to the pre-pitch clock era. We’ll just have to adapt. “Things are different, but we have to,” Vecchia told FOX Sports. We have to adapt,” Beccia told FOX Sports.
