No pitch clock, shift limits to be employed for WBC
Major League Baseball’s new pitch clock, limits on shifts and larger bases will not be used during the World Baseball Classic.
The three innovations will debut during the spring training exhibition season that starts Feb. 24. The 20-team national team tournament runs from March 8-21, and players will return to their clubs for more exhibition games with the new rules ahead of opening day March 30.
“There’s going to be an adjustment and learning curve to those, so for the actual quality of baseball in the WBC, it’s probably better that they didn’t spring that on us in important games,” St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt said Tuesday during an online availability. “If something happened in an elimination game that we weren’t prepared for, that could have a negative effect. We’re going to need a learning curve with those and we won’t get it for a few weeks, but we’ll work on it in spring training and other times.”
This will be the fifth edition of the WBC following victories by Japan in 2006 and ‘09, the Dominican Republic in 2013 and the U.S. in 2017. A scheduled 2021 tournament was called off because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Goldschmidt was 1 for 13 (.077) for the U.S. in 2017, and Nolan Arenado, his Cardinals teammate, went 5 for 31 (.161) with a threerun homer against Canada’s Andrew Albers in the first round.
Pitch limits again will be used.
A pitcher is limited to 65 pitches during a first-round game, 80 in a quarterfinal and 95 in the championship round, though a limit can be exceeded to finish a plate appearance. A pitcher may not pitch in games on three consecutive days. There must be one day off after throwing 30 or more pitches and two days off after throwing 50 or more pitches.
Designated hitters, the three-batter minimum and video review will be used, but the limit on mound visits will not.
Thirty-man rosters were due from teams on Tuesday and will be announced Thursday. Each team must include at least 14 pitchers and two catchers, including 10 pitchers eligible to pitch in consecutive rounds.