Dodgers: Alex Vesia Has a Couple Concerns with the New Pitch Clock
Last year, the Dodgers pitcher with the longest average time between pitches was Alex Vesia, at 24.6 seconds. Naturally, when MLB announced the implementation of a pitch clock for 2023, a lot of people thought of Vesia and the effect the new rule might have on him. Under the new rule, a pitcher will have 15 seconds from the time he receives the ball from the catcher or umpire to begin the delivery for his next pitch. If there are any runners on base, that time limit extends to 20 seconds.
Part of the reason Vesia has the longest time between pitches is because he had the highest percentage of plate appearances with runners on base of any pitcher who faced at least 50 hitters. For Vesia, 49.8% of the batters he faced came with runners on base, slightly higher than the percentages for Brusdar Graterol and Craig Kimbrel.
Dodgers Nation talked with Vesia at FanFest at Dodger Stadium on Saturday and asked about the pitch clock and whether he's concerned about it.
"It's going to be an adjustment. I hope that they implement it in spring training so we can get familiar with it but other than that we'll just have to roll with it."
Vesia is well-known for his "strikeout struts," marching around the mound after getting a big K. Those shouldn't be affected too much, because the rule allows for 30 seconds between hitters. For Vesia, the bigger concern is his process for clearing his mind when he's pitching.
"I think the biggest concern is being able to do my routine — go behind the mound, rub the ball and kind of reset myself and go. If it has to be a little bit quicker, that's ok, I'm not worried about it."
There have been pitch clocks in the minors for several years, and Vesia pitched in Triple-A as recently as 2021, so it won't be entirely new to him. As the lefty says, as long as they implement it in spring training so the pitchers can start getting used to it in games that don't matter, everything should be fine. It will be one more thing to keep an eye on through the upcoming season.
