Pitch-Clock Effects on Types of Players
For a very long time, pitching and hitting in Major League Baseball have been under the same rules. Pitch Clock, which was added in the 2023 season, has changed the way baseball is played.
Starting last year, Major League Baseball changed the rules of the game and implemented a pitch-clock. Pitchers now get fifteen seconds before having to pitch a ball and the batter has to be in the box before eight seconds are up or a violation is given. This stopped batters from taking their time doing their rituals or routines before stepping into the box for an at-bat. It prevented pitchers from playing around on the mound for a long amount of time and to stop trying to pick off the runners on base as much. Pitch clock has tended tended more to the casual fans who usually only watch the big games like the playoffs, most often they argued games were too long and don’t want to watch a whole nine innings like more die-hard fans.
The players have had mixed opinions as some like it while others don’t. Starting pitchers seem to be getting a groove of the pitch clock and are coming up with different strategies of how to manipulate it. Gerrit Cole and Blake Snell who are starting pitchers both had great years and won the CY Young award. These strategies include quick pitching and possibly using all the time up before pitching. According to an article titled, Pitchers are adamant, Chris Bassit commented: “I think we’re going to quickly realize,” Bassitt said, “that it’s more so going to be, ‘How can we use this against the hitters?” Chris Bassitt is a starting pitcher and thinks the pitchers have the advantage in this new rule.
Batters and pitchers are not together on this new rule. The big sluggers seem to not like the pitch-clock and feel it is a violation of their time. In the same article, slugger and former MVP Aaron Judge commented: “I completely forgot about it until about three pitches in, and then I had to kind of check myself because I was getting into the box around eight or nine seconds.” The new rule has definitely caused a challenge for sluggers. They are used to being able to collect their minds after pitches but don’t necessarily get a chance to do so unless a timeout is called now. These sluggers are realizing starting pitchers seemingly have the upper hand in a at bat now.
Starting pitchers seem to be doing fine with the rule, however, relief pitchers have been struggling to adapt to the pitch clock. This could possibly be because they are not getting as much time on the mound as starting pitchers so it is hard to get comfortable with it. Craig Kimbrel, who is a closer, commited over three violations in just one inning in 2023. Alex Vesia has also been feeling these struggles. In the article, How are MLB’s pitchers handling the pitch clock?, Alex Vesia claimed: “It was not good,” Vesia recalled to FOX Sports this week. “I felt really, really rushed. My first spring training outing, I was nervous to go out there because I didn’t know how much the clock was going to affect me. But then after the first one, I was like, ‘OK, I can do it.’” While they are willing to adjust, it has been a hard change for relief pitchers.
Pitch-clock is clearly getting to certain pitchers and batters while also helping out others. It is a balance that these players will have to find and they will have to adjust to the new rules in place. The relief pitchers and sluggers who are struggling are willing to adjust and adapt but only time will tell how well they do it.
Major league batters who had long batting routines seem to be struggling the most out of any hitters. It was a staple in their walk up to the plate and it has now been limited because of the pitch clock. In the article titled, How the MLB pitch clock became a batter’s problem, Anna Brand wrote: “But the league’s new pitch clock rules, introduced this year to accelerate a game that can bleed into three hours, will result in another unintended casualty: quirky batter routines.” These batters who used to take so long to get in the box, are now having to find a way to shorten their routines and practice swings to get ready in time for the pitch.
We have never seen pitch-clock in the MLB before but we have still seen it. In 2022, the Triple-A and Double-A minor leagues tested out the pitch-clock and it went great. These minor leaguers were noticeably better at handling it when called up to the big leagues compared to the big league veterans who have been there for years. It worked exactly how the MLB wanted it to while also providing a few clues on how to make it better and what tweaks are needed when it was implemented the next year in the major leagues. After one year of pitch clock so far it has gone well. Most fans are now on board and most players support the rules.
Pitch-clock was never meant to hurt pitchers or batters, it always was meant to make the game better and make players better at what they do. Pitch-clock was the result of fans and the commissioner complaining the game was too long. Players have now adapted after a year and it will be interesting to see how pitch-clock will affect the 2024 year of baseball. The players seem to be in a better spot now then where they were a year ago when dealing with the new rule. Fear and nervousness, however, always come with change when change is implemented. The rules could possibly change in the future and that is a very big possibility. With any type of rule comes the possibility of change in the future. The simple solution to possibly changing pitch-clock could be for the players to ask the commissioner to change them.
References:
Brand, A. (2023, March 30). How the MLB pitch clock became a batter’s problem. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/30/us/mlb-pitch-clock-batters-dg/index.html
FOX Sports. (n.d.). How are MLB’s slowest pitchers handling the pitch clock? FOX Sports. https://www.foxsports.com/stories/mlb/how-are-mlbs-slowest-pitchers-handling-the-pitch-clock
Yahoo! (n.d.). Pitchers are adamant: MLB’s pitch clock will give them an edge over hitters. will spring training games prove it? Yahoo! Sports. https://sports.yahoo.com/pitchers-are-adamant-mlbs-pitch-clock-will-give-them-an-edge-over-hitters-will-spring-training-games-prove-it-175136106.html
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Counterintuitive Spring 2024 
I am willing to spend 30 minutes on feedback and would like the feedback to be on the content in the paper.
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OK, EaglesFan. I’m up for 30 minutes of Content Feedback.
Before I start, would you please seek the several variations of naming you’ve applied to the Pitch Clock and unify them?
Sometimes you capitalize it. Sometimes you don’t. Sometimes you hyphenate it. Usually you don’t. I’ve been reading articles about it while working with you, and the consensus appears to be:
Let’s commit to that style in all your short arguments.
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30 minutes beginning at 3:00
—There’s not much content here, EaglesFan. And you’ve missed some juicy opportunities. “the same rules” is virtually meaningless, and “changed the way baseball is played” is even more vague.
—What rules? What changes? The answer is obvious.
—Baseball has always famously been “the game without a clock.” Football plays have to get off in time. Basketball has a shot clock. You get the idea. The “change” is that suddenly, baseball is a “game with a clock,” and both pitchers and batters have had to hurry up their approach. That’s “the change.”
—Say so. It will make your Introduction much more vivid.
—It’s not too early to start “categorizing” in your Definition/Categorical argument.
—Not all pitchers have had to hurry up their delivery, but “more deliberate” pitchers with elaborate pre-pitch regimens now have to “hurry up” and throw within fifteen seconds.
—Similar language for batters.
—You eventually get to most of the details, EF, but you make readers suffer through vague introductory “half-claims” before you share what you’ve been withholding.
—Your Ideal Reader doesn’t need to be softened up. Be firm and direct.
—So, by now, you’ll be cringing, I hope, at your first sentence here, which serves zero purpose.
—”Invention by Naming,” EaglesFan. Review that lecture. CALL these early adopters SOMETHING. Actually, Early Adapters isn’t bad. Cole and Snell apparently know how to mix up their deliveries to keep batters off balance.
—The Bassitt comment is good content, but you’ve made the “Just Passed Scenic Views” mistake. Tell us what he means FIRST, then tell us what he said. It will insure that we know what YOU WANT US to understand about what he said.Definition by Naming
—It isn’t entirely clear from what you’ve said so far, EF, that there is just one clock, one countdown, not one for the pitcher and another for the batter. Even readers familiar with the EXISTENCE of the clock might not be clear on the details.
—The pitcher needs to begin his delivery within fifteen seconds of getting the ball back from the catcher. While those fifteen seconds are ticking off, the batter needs to be in the box ready to hit with at least eight seconds left on the clock.
—That means it would be hard for the batter to manipulate the pitcher, but easy for the pitcher to throw immediately after the batter steps in.
—As content goes, your “because they are not getting as much time” material is Causal and might belong in a different argument.
—The Vesia material is fine, but it puts him in the category of “Adapted Quickly” if you have such a category. I mean, after ONE outing! And ready in time for opening day.
—Saying players had to adapt during spring training is VERY different from saying they “are struggling” or that the pitch clock “is getting to” them. You’ve used statistics elsewhere in your argument set; you might need some evidence here that you even HAVE categories of sluggers. Did their slugging percentages suffer in 2023?
—Well, yeah, but that’s pretty inconsequential.
—It’s also possible that pitchers got very accustomed to BATTERS slowing down the game, and have now had to speed up now that they can’t count on dawdlers at the plate.
—You would do well to emphasize that you’re describing a new CATEGORY of batters (and pitchers) here: They’re Pitch Clock Veterans who’ve already spent a season acclimating to the time limit. You might also be able to predict that since they did well after just a year of preparation, the effects of the pitch clock for older veteran major league players should diminish dramatically in 2024.
—This is all pretty vague where it doesn’t have to be, EaglesFan.
—There have already been changes you could share. The 20-second limit with runners on base was reduced to 18 seconds. Also, the “dead ball” rule below is another revisionon.
Pitch Clock Start Time: The pitch clock will now restart after a dead ball when the pitcher receives the ball and play is ready to resume. Previously, the clock began only when the pitcher was on the mound. The change removes the pitcher’s ability to delay the start of the timer by walking around the edge of the mound.
Finally, after a year of games have been played, you should be able to say much more than: “Players are in a better spot.” Are runs scored or batting averages UP across the league, which would indicate an advantage to hitters? Or down, which would indicate the opposite? Are games actually shorter on average? When they announced the 2024 rules, did the League have anything to say about the success of the “experiment”?
That’s 30 minutes. I hope it was helpful.
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I’m here to doublecheck that my grades are up to date. I believe you have made no revisions to this post since my feedback session. Regrade is always available following significant improvements.
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Assuming now that I have seen the last of your revisions, I have regraded this post to reflect the good work you did revising it from your original draft.
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