TEST THE LIMITS
Scherzer experiments with pitch clock, appreciates calls around new MLB rules
PORT ST. LUCIE — In other seasons, perhaps Max Scherzer would have been frustrated by his top of the third inning during the Mets’ Grapefruit League game Friday against the Nationals.
There were balks, strange calls and a pair of errors at shortstop by Luis Guillorme.
But as Scherzer pointed out after his outing, he appreciated all of it.
Such is life in the major leagues as pitchers — and everyone else — figure out just how all the new rule changes will impact the game.
As the right-hander said, better to find out now than during the regular season.
“These are the unintended consequences of the [pitch] clock,” Scherzer said of his 2 2/₃-inning outing during an 11-6 loss at Clover Park. “This is what’s going on so you have to keep putting yourself in these situations. If you just throw three perfect innings, that’s really not good in spring training. You want to be in these situations. You want runners on base and have to be pressing. If there was ever a time for Guillorme to kick two balls, this was it.”
It led to plenty of gamesmanship, from both Scherzer and Washington’s hitters.
Scherzer pointed to three different instances in which the clock impacted the game while he was on the mound.
He and catcher Tomas Nido “took too much time between innings.”
“The ball has to be out in 30 seconds so we’ve got to be on top of that,” Scherzer said.
Later in the inning, Scherzer had a double play grounder negated by a pitch clock violation.
“I got caught,” Scherzer said of the play involving Riley Adams. “I wasn’t trying to do anything on that. I forgot about the time.”
With Ildemaro Vargas on first base and Scherzer pitching out of the stretch, Victor Robles called for time — something a batter is now allowed to do just once per at-bat — and Scherzer immediately got set and threw his next pitch as soon as he believed Robles was ready.
But home plate umpire Jeremy Riggs called a balk on Scherzer for a quick pitch, since Robles hadn’t reestablished himself in the box. That led to a discussion first between Riggs and Scherzer before manager Buck Showalter also came out to get an answer.
“The Robles one was a little confusing,” Scherzer said. “The umpire makes a gesture to signal you can go. I go when Robles’ eyes are up and get called for a quick-pitch balk. You’ve got to push the limits on what you can and can’t do with this. I pressed it today. You’ve got to push the limit and find the boundary on this. … We’re working through this: the umpires, the hitters, [and the pitchers].”
Showalter expects to see more experimentation this spring from his more experienced pitchers.
“Max and a lot of veteran pitchers — and pitchers in general — will use this time to test some things and make adjustments,” the manager said. “Everyone here [in the majors] is looking for a competitive edge: pitchers and hitters. This is a good time to be testing things and get a good idea of what you can and can’t do and what is beneficial.”
Scherzer is confident he can use the rules to get an edge, especially once he adjusts to the changes.
“You could tell they were ready for me to work quick today,” Scherzer said. “You can use that to your advantage and speed up and slow down the game.”
He did that with the next batter.
With Adams at the plate following Robles, Scherzer got set again as soon as Adams used his only timeout of the at-bat and whiffed him with the next pitch.
Scherzer intends to mess with hitters’ timing to add another weapon to his already strong arsenal.
“I feel comfortable holding the ball,” Scherzer said. “Holding the ball for 10 seconds, I practice that. I know how to operate and execute pitches around that. It’s something I can use.”