Pitchers Adapt
While many pitchers have already adapted to the new Pitch Clock rules, a popular objection is that they favor the offense at the expense of defensive efficiency and pitcher statistics. This is most likely because fans see that the bags have increased in size and because the pitcher has become limited in how many times he can try and pick off a runner. It makes an impression that these rules are hurting pitchers and the defense behind them.
This argument that pitchers have only gotten worse and defense isn’t as good is wrong. While there have been pitchers who have struggled adapting to the new rule, there are plenty of others who are striving and have gotten increasingly better because of the pitch clock. One of these pitchers is San Francisco Giants player Blake Snell. ESPN’s stats go on to show in 2022 before pitch clock was enabled, Snell had a 3.38 ERA. In previous years he was even higher getting in the fours at times. In 2023, when the pitch clock was introduced, Snell had a 2.25 ERA. The funny part is, Snell was resistant to these rules at first. In an ESPN article titled What players think of MLB’s new rules, Blake commented this when asked what his favorite part of the new rules was: “None that I can think of.” Someone who clearly wasn’t a fan of the changes ended up having one of his best years in his career and won Cy Young.
Gerrit Cole was dominant in years without the pitch clock. Recently however, in the two years before pitch clock was added, he had his ERA in the three’s range. According to ESPN, Last year he dropped from a 3.5 ERA to a 2.63 ERA. These changes in rules have in a way, certainly revived Cole’s career. Winning the Cy Young can allow Cole to get more money out of a contract as he has proven he has more worth than any other American League pitcher. Another pitcher who almost dropped a whole number’s worth and also won the Cy Young award. Another pitcher who benefited was Sonny Gray. A guy who wasn’t on a lot of radars before 2023 had a 2.79 ERA and became a CY Young candidate. It is clear that the pitch clock is having some sort of effect on certain pitchers. One of the things the rule does is give pitchers less time to think. The seconds counting down before the pitchers have to pitch could be leading to them just throwing instead of thinking about the pitch they should throw and the batter that is up. Cy Young is the biggest award a pitcher can win. For Snell and Cole to win it in the same year their ERA got that much better shows there is some sort of correlation to the new rules.
While the argument is that the pitch clock is making pitchers worse, there is also something to be said about the batters. If the pitchers were truly only getting worse, then that must mean the batters have to be getting better and their averages must be going up. This is also not the case. Multiple batters have been really struggling after the new rule was added and some of those batters have been superstars that are supposed to be the team’s leaders. One of these players is Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber. According to ESPN’s stats, Kyle had a batting average of .218 in 2022. In the next season, he batted a low .197 in 2023. A .021 decrease in batting average. If pitchers were really getting worse Kyle should’ve most likely batted a lot higher than that.
Nolan Arenado who is another superstar in the league also had his batting average decrease. In 2022 he batted .293, in 2023 he batted .265. These are two batters who are known to have long routines before stepping in the box. Then the pitch clock has made them shorten their routines and step in the box quickly. This is resulting in the pitcher at times manipulating the pitch clock and firing the ball as soon as the batter is in the box. The rule seems to actually benefit pitchers more than batters. The argument that it is making pitchers worse clearly does not take the batters who the pitchers are facing into account. Batters dropping their averages down that much shows the pitch clock is clearly causing more problems to batters, especially since the pitcher can now take control of an at bat in the way they want.
A part of the argument is that because the pitchers are getting worse, defense is also getting worse. This is most likely because if the pitchers’ ERAs are increasing, that must mean defense isn’t as good. Players are disagreeing with this argument. The players actually think the opposite and some are actually going on to say defense seems to be getting better with the new rule. In an article titled, Is MLB’s Pitch Clock Leading to Better Defense?, Kolten Wong commented: “I think it’s helping defensively a lot, just because you don’t have the down time to really kind of walk around.” If the players in the league are saying that defense is getting better, it is most likely getting better. Players are the ones playing the game, fans simply just watch it. They don’t actually know how it feels or what it is like. For a player to come out and say something positive about it shows fan’s arguments aren’t always valid. The pitch clock actually increases defense for a huge reason. Players do not have lots of time in between pitches now to look around, adjust their gloves, or any of the other distractions. Wong also stated, “You’re not cleaning dirt, you’re constantly back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. So, I’m a big fan of it.” With the players on their feet at all times now, pitchers have to be getting better. The players are now more focused behind the pitcher and are always ready to make plays. That shows that pitchers are not only getting worse because of the new rule but actually getting better.
References:
ESPN Internet Ventures. (n.d.). Blake Snell – San Francisco Giants starting pitcher. ESPN. https://www.espn.com/mlb/player/_/id/33748
ESPN Internet Ventures. (n.d.-b). Gerrit Cole – New York Yankees starting pitcher. ESPN. https://www.espn.com/mlb/player/_/id/32081
ESPN Internet Ventures. (n.d.-c). Kyle Schwarber – Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter. ESPN. https://www.espn.com/mlb/player/_/id/33712
ESPN Internet Ventures. (n.d.). What players think of MLB’s new rules. ESPN. https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/36387464/mlb-players-react-2023-pitch-clock-rules
Is MLB’s pitch clock leading to better defense? some players and coaches think so. (n.d.). https://www.usnews.com/news/sports/articles/2023-07-06/is-mlbs-pitch-clock-leading-to-better-defense-some-players-and-coaches-think-so
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Counterintuitive Spring 2024 
I am willing to spend 45 minutes on feedback.
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OK, EaglesFan. I’m starting at 8:45. You didn’t tell me what sort of Feedback you prefer, so I’ll try to concentrate on Big Ticket items like Argument and Evidence.
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—I’m going to break my resolution immediately, EaglesFan, but with luck I’ll move on to Argument and Evidence as soon as I get this off my chest.
—Arguments cannot be won in the first sentence, but they can surely be lost when they discourage readers from bothering with the second sentence. If your Introduction doesn’t COMPEL your Ideal Reader to continue, cut it and get to the good stuff that DOES compel her to read on.
Here are your first few sentences:
Here’s what they say:
—Accommodations to The Pitch Clock will last for years.
—For as many years as the rules are in effect.
—Players will have to adapt.
—Many argue the value of the Pitch Clock.
—The arguments are novel because the rules are new.
—The arguments vary in size.
—One deserves our attention.
—The argument that deserves our attention is that the Pitch Clock has made pitchers worse.
—(perhaps because “good defense is hard to find”?)
—Pitcher stats are declining.
Revised for Brevity and Clarity:
—Does that work?
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Starting again at 9:30. Now I see a way to incorporate your first rebuttal argument into your Introduction:
To me, that’s a strong substitution for the first two paragraphs and hooks your Ideal Reader, who will now be looking for more confirmation that you can deliver the goods without a lot of noise.
And now that you’ve established that at least one pitcher did something remarkable AFTER the Pitch Clock, you can add some speculation that the changes revived his performance following years of declining efficiency as reflected in his much higher ERA numbers in the years between his AL and his NL Cy Young years.
That way you earn credit twice for one set of numbers. See how this works?
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Want to have some more fun?
Here are some preseason 2023 quotes from Snell , who as we know benefited more than most from the Pitch Clock:
—It’s pretty powerful evidence of the benefits of the clock (for pitchers at least!) that even the Cy Young winner who perhaps benefited most from the changes was so resistant to them at the beginning of the season.
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There’s a really strong paper in the works here, EaglesFan. You understand the job and you’re putting together credible arguments with powerful evidence. I welcome dialog more than anything else at this stage, so please reach out with your reactions to this feedback. It’s intended always to be helpful, but when I start condensing your entire paragraphs into sentences, I know it can seem pretty brutal.
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You certainly benefited from a radical revision to your Introduction, and the inclusion of some comments from pitchers goes a distance toward addressing your rebuttal to real people (Worthy Opponents).
I ignored your Grade request on the Rebuttal post, but I’ve Regraded this piece to reflect your improvments.
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AND . . . I see now that, although I graded and recorded your Rebuttal posts on paper, I didn’t transfer them to Canvas . . . until now, which no doubt explains why you sought a grade for your Rebuttal. Sorry for the confusion. Caught up now.
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