The numbers show that MLB players are growing more comfortable with the newly instituted pitch clock, but there are still quirky wrinkles that are emerging.
According to Baseball Reference, automatic strikes and automatic balls called for violating the clock have been declining as the season has gone on. While pitchers were called for 1.7 automatic balls per 1,000 pitches thrown in April, that number is down to 1.0 in June.
But Mets starter Justin Verlander learned a new way you can violate the pitch clock in Monday’s game against the Brewers. At the start of the third inning, Verlander was assessed an automatic ball because he threw a warmup pitch with 27 seconds left on the timer.
Justin Verlander was issued an automatic ball for throwing a warm up pitch with 27 seconds remaining on the pitch clock. pic.twitter.com/fEyLn0sTL6
— SNY (@SNYtv) June 26, 2023
The rules state that pitchers must complete their warmup tosses before the clock ticks below 30 seconds. Verlander argued with home plate umpire Jansen Visconti, but to no avail.
Verlander said later that he thought Visconti had said he was allowed to throw one more warmup pitch.
“He caught me off guard,” he said. “I know that you’re supposed to get your last warmup pitch in before 30 seconds. It was right about that time and I was about to throw my pitch and I think he started yelling ‘One more’ and kind of holding up the one [finger].”
Verlander added that he thinks the rule should be applied with some leeway.
“As long as I’m ready by the 8 seconds that the hitter’s supposed to step in the box, I think that’s plenty of time,” he said.
Verlander isn’t the only Mets pitcher to get annoyed over warmup pitches this month. On June 1, Max Scherzer complained that he wasn’t allowed to throw the standard eight warmup pitches because the umpire said he ran out of time. In that instance, catcher Francisco Álvarez was late arriving on the field after making the final out of the previous half inning. Similarly, on Monday, Álvarez was preparing to bat when the final out was made and needed to put his catcher’s gear on.
Verlander made sure to be clear that he wasn’t blaming Álvarez for the clock violation but said umpires should exercise discretion when the catcher needs to put his equipment on.
“If it takes them a little longer to get out there than normal, I don’t think the pitcher should be held accountable for that,” Verlander said.
The automatic ball Verlander was charged with didn’t matter, though. He got Rowdy Tellez to strike out anyway.
