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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Andrew Joseph

Ump oddly charged Jeff McNeil with a strike because Pete Alonso walked back to first base

If the first few hours of baseball for the 2023 MLB season are any indication, we’re going to see some weird situations play out when it comes to the new rules.

The New York Mets got a quick lesson in that on Thursday.

During the Opening Day matchup between the Mets and Marlins, some confusion sparked after home plate umpire Larry Vanover stopped play and charged a strike to Jeff McNeil. The violation in the case had nothing to do with McNeil. But instead, Vanover thought that Pete Alonso was taking too long to return to first base after McNeil’s foul ball. The penalty for that was a strike charged to … McNeil.

Alonso, McNeil, the Mets broadcast and manager Buck Showalter were all justifiably confused with the ruling. Alonso did walk back to first base, but it didn’t look like he was holding up the game.

Really, Vanover’s decision to call a violation in that spot, charge the strike and then explain the ruling to the Mets caused more a delay than Alonso’s quick walk back to first base.

Despite the extra strike, McNeil would get a hit in that at-bat to put the Mets up by three runs.

Fans also had plenty of thoughts on that ruling by Vanover.

This was how Twitter reacted

If MLB really wants to improve pace of play, then that rule for baserunners really shouldn’t be a thing. You’re going to see teams waste more time arguing the call than it would have saved.

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