Former Dodger Dumbfounded After Striking Out While Standing in the Batter's Box
Major League Baseball's new pitch clock hasn't been talked about too much this season — and that's a good thing.
When it was announced that the MLB was implementing a pitch clock, many people worried that it would completely alter the game. People were worried about the pitch clock violations ruining big moments, and potentially speeding up the game too much.
Fortunately, that hasn't been the case. The pace of play has been incredible to watch, and there haven't been too many instances where an unnecessary pitch clock violation changed the game. However, there still have been some weird violations.
On Friday, former Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner was on the receiving end of a weird pitch clock violation. Turner was in the batter's box against the Phillies, and looked ready to receive RHP Zack Wheeler's pitch. However, he was called for a pitch clock violation, leading to his strikeout. It's safe to say he was confused (and unhappy) about the call.
Turner wasn't the only one confused, though, as the announcers were quite puzzled, too.
Turner argued with home plate umpire Doug Eddings, but it didn't matter. Turner was handed a strike (and strikeout since there were two strikes) for not addressing the pitcher with eight seconds to go, a weird rule that doesn't make much sense.
Turner was in the batter's box, which does make it seem like he's ready to go. However, Eddings didn't think so, and gave him strike three.
Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora ended up coming out to argue, and Turner remained in the batter's box to argue, too. So, instead of just having Wheeler throw a pitch, over 40 seconds were then wasted with Turner and Cora arguing the violation.
The MLB wants to speed up the game, and this ended up doing the opposite.
Overall, I'm a huge fan of the pitch clock — but sometimes, the rules become a little arbitrary. I understand if Turner was out of the box with eight seconds to go, but he was in there, and looked ready for the pitch. The umpires need to be a little less strict about making that call, or we're going to get many more delays that last much longer than the pitch would have taken.
