The new rules in Major League Baseball this season have done a lot of good things for the game, including making them much faster and easier to watch.
But they have also led to some mind-boggling calls by umps that have infuriated players and fans.
The latest example of that came in Wednesday’s Diamondbacks-Phillies game in Philadelphia when things went off the rails in the 10th inning after the home plate ump called Phillies pitcher Craig Kimbrel for a pitch clock violation. That call came after an argument at home plate and it didn’t seem like Kimbrel did anything wrong once play resumed.
The great John Kruk was on the call and he absolutely tore into the umps and MLB.
This was all madness:
John Kruk has had enough of the new rules.
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 24, 2023
"Ah dear crap almighty!"
"What a joke! What a circus this game's turned into!"
"What the hell's Kimbrel supposed to do? This is a joke... keep making up rules until no one knows what's going on." ⚾️🎙️ pic.twitter.com/5dz5Sx1MDb
The Phillies went on to win the game, 6–5, and Kruk had more to say about the new rules during a postgame interview:
The pitch clock drama came up during a postgame interview with Alec Bohm (who delivered a walk-off hit for the Phillies).
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 24, 2023
Bohm: "I didn't know what was going on the whole time..."
John Kruk: "Alec, no one does, my friend. No one does." pic.twitter.com/h7UjzwiitZ
Many MLB fans were on Kruk’s side:
Nobody hates baseball more than Major League Baseball @MLB https://t.co/DQk2IEpuXB
— Clay Collins (@ClayCollins028) May 25, 2023
He's 100% correct stupidity https://t.co/sBP3vGiu81
— TheBoneCollector (@ScottinBayV) May 25, 2023
They screwed up a great game that’s been played for 100 years to appease a few people that don’t even watch it. https://t.co/QRB5D4wv94
— JIA (@JeremyinAkron) May 25, 2023
Beautiful… good job baseball! https://t.co/yLIG1gPAX4
— Blake Dallas and a thousand others (@Dallas2Blake) May 25, 2023
Rob Manfred's tenure as commissioner is such a disaster. https://t.co/4ZXSqYVLwH
— Matt Ortega (@MattOrtega) May 24, 2023
