The Pitch Clock Debuts, and We’ve Already Got the First Ever Auto-Strike
Although the Chicago Cubs don’t kick off their Spring Training slate until tomorrow, there are actually two baseball games being played this afternoon, with the Royals hosting the Rangers, and the Padres hosting the Mariners. So the fake games are underway!
That means new rules, and it means we get our first look at the new pitch clock in action:
And the first auto-strike in MLB history:
Take a bow, Manny. You are now in the history books for being the first batter to not be “ready” by the 8-second mark, thus the auto-strike. Er, well, the first at least for Spring Training. Someone else will get the honor in the regular season.
Speaking of which, lord I hope the pitch clock isn’t this obtrusive on most regular season broadcasts:
I will want to know when the clock is getting low, yes, but I don’t want to be staring at the thing for every single pitch. I suspect it’ll vary ballpark to ballpark, but I think it probably won’t be on-screen like that for every park/broadcast? Here’s hoping anyway.
Oh, and as for Manny, he says he’s got some adjusting to do, and joked about being down 0-1 a lot this year:
