As renowned music instructor Terence Fletcher would say: “Not quite my tempo.”
The pitch clock has undergone a relatively painless implementation in MLB this season. While violations are still fairly commonplace, most players only experience the occasional time-related disruptions. But every now and then, the task of keeping pace with the countdown proves to be too much, and that’s exactly what happened to Phillies relief pitcher Craig Kimbrel in Thursday’s game against the Diamondbacks.
Kimbrel entered the game in the bottom of the ninth inning with Philadelphia clinging to a 5–4 lead. He got ahead, 0–2, on Josh Rojas and was issued an automatic ball after a pitch clock violation before finishing him off with a strikeout. He then jumped ahead with two strikes again to start off the next batter, Jake McCarthy, before the clock got him again for two more automatic balls—much to the delight of the Arizona crowd.
Craig Kimbrel got called for three pitch clock violations in one half-inning pic.twitter.com/qXbmjACLCh
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) June 15, 2023
Amazingly, this wasn’t the first time this year that a pitcher has had three pitch clock violations in one inning, as Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen did the same thing earlier this season (perhaps it’s a former Dodgers reliever issue?).
Despite his struggles to keep things moving in a timely fashion, Kimbrel was nonetheless effective, retiring all three batters he faced for an otherwise incident-free save. While the violations didn’t cost him this time, it’s probably wise for Kimbrel to avoid this type of sequence going forward—a closer’s job, after all, is already stressful enough.
