MLB’s new rules are designed to speed up the game, but sometimes, umpires can weaponize those rules against the batter. Brewers shortstop Willy Adames certainly felt that umpire Adam Beck did just that on Saturday.
During Adames’ sixth-inning at-bat against the Angels’ Jaime Barría, the Brewers shortstop wanted timeout after a first-pitch ball was high and tight. Now, Adames let the pitch clock run down close to the eight-second cutoff. But he did appear to call timeout in time. Umpires aren’t required to grant a timeout to the batter, and Beck opted to let Barría continue with the pitch even as Adames left the box.
