Angels get first taste of baseball with a timer
PEORIA, ARIZ. » Jo Adell produced a couple of firsts for the Angels.
A few innings after Adell hit the Angels' first homer of the spring on Saturday, he was tagged for the team's first timer violation.
“Just a part of it,” Adell shrugged. “It's fine. We'll get in the rhythm of it. There are going to be some violations here and there, but that's part of everybody just getting with the new rules.”
Adell had stepped out of the box to gather himself after swinging at a pitch in the dirt. He stepped back in but was looking down at his feet as the timer hit seven seconds, so plate umpire Mike Muchlinski immediately called time, pointed to his wrist and pointed to Adell. The count flipped from 2-and-1 to 2-and-2.
Adell's violation was one of four in the Angels' 5-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners, a game that lasted 2 hours, 16 minutes. There was an audible gasp from the departing fans when they heard the game time announced.
Major League Baseball instituted the pitch timer this year to cut out some of the dead time that had caused the average major league game to go beyond three hours in recent years.
With the bases empty, the pitcher has 15 seconds from the time he receives the ball to begin his delivery. With any base occupied, the timer is set at 20 seconds. There are 30 seconds between hitters. The hitter must be prepared for the pitch with eight seconds on the clock.
Umpires will call an automatic ball or strike, depending whether the pitcher or hitter is in violation.
As the clock was used for the first time in major league games on Friday and Saturday, the response from most players has been positive, with the caveat that it will take some adjustment.
“Once everyone gets used to it, it's going to be a little more relaxed and everyone's going to be kind of back to normal but the pitch clock will still be there so it'll be a tick quicker,” said Angels catcher Matt Thaiss, who had played with a clock last year at Triple-A.
Thaiss said there are moments during long at-bats when it helps to be able to stop and take a breath.
“You get one timeout,” Thaiss said. “Use it wisely.”
Adell called his timeout during his first at-bat, and then he hit a homer.
Angels starter Tucker Davidson, who also pitched with the clock last year at Triple-A, said he didn't like it at first, but he grew to appreciate the more crisper games.
“You don't have time to mentally check back out and check in,” Davidson said. “You have to be ready to go. It's going to be an adjustment. I'm glad they gave us six weeks of spring training to figure it out.”
First baseman Jared Walsh, who will get his first experience with the timer when he makes his Cactus League debut on Monday, said he is in favor of the new rule.
“I think there's going to be a little adjustment period but I'm assuming when every guy has the ability to get home before midnight after getting treatment and all that, guys are going to come around to it,” Walsh said. “I think the more you watch, there's a lot of weird antics that happen. Guys have their weird routines before they get to the batter's good today.”… Left-hander Kolton Ingram pitched a perfect inning, with two strikeouts. Ingram was just added to the 40-man roster this winter. team, like Troy Percival, Darin Erstad, Tim Salmon and Troy Glaus. Albert Pujols, who is on the Angels' payroll as a special assistant, has also been in camp this week. Nevin said he also leaned toward players who had been his teammates.
“No offense to Jered,” Nevin said. “I love him. He's a great guy. He's been a great Angel. It's not something that we wouldn't look at in the in the future. And I'll talk to him too. I didn't didn't realize it was hurting people's feelings, but I think I've told you before, I'm not here to make friends or keep friends. I'm here to win games and I felt like a lot of those guys from that '02 team being out here and being my teammates, knowing who they are, I thought it was important to get them here.”