I don’t think we have to belabor this too much, because we already know (1) Joe Maddon was not really trying to get Saturday night’s game replayed, and (2) it always seemed like Sean Doolittle’s delivery was different than the one that got Carl Edwards, Jr. into trouble at the start of the season. Thus, the outcome was pretty predictable here.
Per Cubs.com, MLB informed the Cubs that Nationals closer Sean Doolittle’s toe-tap hesitation delivery does not violate the rule against a “second step” when delivering a pitch, in contrast to the foot resetting Carl Edwards, Jr. was doing in his first outing this year, which ran afoul of the rule. The Cubs have dropped their protest of the game.
“They called [what Doolittle did] a graze as opposed to an actual foot being on the ground,” Joe Maddon said, per Cubs.com. “Again, I don’t know how that differentiates, I really don’t. They’re just saying Carl put his whole foot on the ground, and that, somehow, is different.”
With all due respect to Maddon, and with an understanding of the battle he’s fighting, I feel like I can see a pretty clear difference:
Carl Edwards, Jr.'s Foot Plant vs Sean Doolittle's Toe Tap.
OBR 5.07(a):
"A pitcher may not take a second step toward home plate with either foot." pic.twitter.com/hSJrApg8hD— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 19, 2019
Doolittle took to Twitter to express his position, now that the heat of the moment had worn off (and I think he’s right about all of this):
The rule, to me, seems to exist to prevent pitchers from crow hopping down the mound to get closer to home plate. I don’t think tapping your foot, as a timing mechanism, violates that rule. And I think Edwards’ and Gearrin’s deliveries should be legal too.
— Obi-Sean Kenobi Doolittle (@whatwouldDOOdo) May 20, 2019
So much of pitching is disrupting timing. And as long as the strike zone is the size of a cocktail napkin and the ball is flying out of ballparks at historic rates, I think pitchers should be allowed to have a toe tap or hesitation in their delivery if they want but I’m biased
— Obi-Sean Kenobi Doolittle (@whatwouldDOOdo) May 20, 2019
So, for now, it appears that a little incidental tap is OK, but a full-on plant of the foot is not. That seems like the right balance to me, because Doolittle is right, the whole point is to prevent a Carter Capps step-and-jump situation. That’s not what Edwards was ever doing, mind you, but you have to draw the line somewhere.