Hill offers second opinion on pitch clock

Baseball’s new rules have served their purpose through the first few series of the new season. The rhythm of the game has returned to what it once was as pitchers work at a brisk pace and hitters stay in the box instead of wandering around contemplating the meaning of life while adjusting their batting gloves.

It’s jarring at first to realize a sport played for so long without a clock is now controlled by a pitch timer. But that is what it took.

But not everybody agrees.

“My firm stance is I do not like the outcome being related to a noncompetitive act,” Pirates pitcher Rich Hill said. “I don’t think anybody finds fault with it, but I think it’s a solid argument.”

Hill fears a game being decided by a ball or strike being called for a timer violation. That hasn’t happened yet, but it did occur during a Red Sox-Braves game in spring training.

“People pay in some cases $500 a seat to see competition. They’re not paying to see somebody turn around and walk back to the bench,” Hill said. “You want to see what the pitcher can do in certain situations and what the hitter can do in certain situations.”

Say this for Hill, he’s a man of principle. He’s a quick worker on the mound and the new rules fit his style seamlessly.

“I love the pace of the game. I love the time of the game. I love that the game is under three hours,” he said. “But I completely disagree with having an outcome without a competitive act. I don’t understand how you can argue against that.”

But the problem is what penalty could be levied on a pitcher or hitter to compel them to adhere to the timer? A fine?

“I have no idea what that would look like. But they have to figure something else out,” Hill said. “In my opinion, it’s a terrible situation that could happen to certain players. It could affect their careers or the outcome of the game.

“What if a playoff game ended on an automatic strike? It would be absolutely horrific for the game. That’s why I think in the playoffs you need to get rid of all this.”

Hill makes a worthwhile point. But it’s also possible an NBA game could be decided by a shot-clock violation or an NFL game on a delay-of-game violation. Part of being competitive is playing in such a way that you don’t let the timer expire.

Hill also doesn’t like that rules were essentially forced on the players. MLB’s 11-person Competition Committee has six representatives from teams, four players representing the Players Association, and one umpire.

The pace-of-game regulations were approved by a 7-4 vote with all four players (Jack Flaherty, Tyler Glasnow, Whit Merrifield, and Austin Slater) voting against them after consulting with union officials.

“It’s very dictatorship-like,” Hill said. “Players have no say in it. But, again, I’m not against the clock. I’m against the potential outcomes.”

Hill, 43, has the credentials to speak on these topics. He has played for 12 teams over 19 seasons in the majors.

“Baseball is a great game. I love it,” he said. “But I think they went too far.”

Theo Epstein, who has led the process for MLB, doesn’t see the current rules as untouchable. The league will listen to the players and make changes as necessary. But he also pointed out that when baseball tested the pitch timer in the minor leagues, players quickly adjusted.

“It did feel awkward for the first few weeks and there were plenty of violations, nearly two violations per game,” Epstein said during an appearance on “The Athletic Baseball Show” podcast.

“After a month we got down to less than a half a violation per game between both teams combined.”

It got to a point in the minors when working at a quicker pace felt natural to the players and the clock faded into the background. That should be the case in the majors. But Hill would like to see an adjustment made with allowing relief pitchers extra time when they enter the game. Or giving a pitcher extra time when he backs up a base.

He also doesn’t like that enforcing the shift rule could put the pitcher in a bad position.

“If the infielder is caught with his feet on the grass, the pitcher gets penalized by having a ball called. That makes no sense, absolutely no sense,” Hill said. “That should never happen.”

As passionate as Hill is about the changes and what he would like to see adjusted, he also understands their value. Baseball is an entertainment product and the product grew stale with lengthy delays between pitches. Something had to be done.

“We’re just shoes in a shoe store, we’re a product. That’s it,” Hill said. “I get that. We’re seasonal employees.

This is a business. That’s the tough part about it.”

On the baseball front, Hill is enjoying his time with the Pirates. He’s the oldest player on the roster by five years.

“It’s been good. Great group of guys,” he said. “There was a youth movement here but now we have guys with a couple of years of experience in the big leagues now and can come into an environment like Fenway or Yankee Stadium and handle it.

“We’re looking forward to having a time when we win. I’ve been fortunate to be in a lot of good clubhouses and

I’m in another one.”

Hill, who is with the Pirates on a one-year, $8 million deal, hasn’t put an expiration date on his career yet.

“When that time comes, I’ll know,” he said. “We’ll see.”