Spring coaching is all the time a time for making tweaks and figuring issues out. This yr in Dodgers camp, one of many issues they’re making an attempt to determine is how the new rules will have an effect on the gamers. To that finish, when Los Angeles took the sphere at Camelback Ranch on Thursday for his or her first intrasquad game of the spring, they began taking a look at pitchers’ occasions between pitches.
MLB is implementing a pitch clock in 2023, which can give pitchers 15 second to ship the subsequent pitch with nobody on base, and 20 second with runners on. LA didn’t have an precise pitch clock in Thursday’s sport, however they did have a stopwatch for informational functions, and it appears like ace pitcher Julio Urias would possibly want to select up the tempo a bit.
Actually, 4 pitches isn’t dangerous for the primary day trip, particularly and not using a clock to regulate. As soon as there’s an precise, bodily clock within the pitcher’s view, guys like Julio who work comparatively rapidly anyway will naturally get within the groove of shifting in time with the clock.
The pitch clock isn’t the one rule change coming to MLB. There’s additionally the new rule about infielder positioning, which says there should be two infielders on both sides of second base and in entrance of the outfield grass. Max Muncy hit a single up the center in Thursday’s scrimmage and celebrated the shortage of the shift as a result of it in all probability would have been an out in earlier seasons.
There are greater bases this yr, too, together with limits on what number of pickoff makes an attempt pitchers could make. Each of these new guidelines are designed not less than partly to extend the working sport. Umpires can even be extra strict in implementing balk and unlawful pitch guidelines, so Dodgers pitchers will all want to verify they’re staying inside the tips.
It’s a enjoyable little subplot this spring, in case you don’t have sufficient to maintain you .
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