Leading Off
In an effort to improve baseball’s often painfully slow pace of play, the minor leagues are serving as incubators for several new rules that someday could be implemented in Major League Baseball.
Friday at Frontier Field, because Game 1 of the doubleheader between the Rochester Red Wings and Buffalo Bisons started at 1:05 p.m., it became the first Triple-A game played with the new timing and pickoff initiatives.
“I’m curious to see how this all plays out because this is gonna be a tough adjustment. There’s a lot of interesting stuff,” Red Wings manager Matt LeCroy said before the start of a day that saw Rochester split Buffalo.
Here’s what’s new:
At the start of each at bat, a 30-second clock begins. The batter has to be in the box and ready to hit with at least nine seconds left, and the pitcher must deliver the pitch before the clock hits zero.
If the ball is not put in play on the first pitch, before each pitch thereafter a 14-second pitch clock starts (increased to 19 seconds if there are runners on base) and the same rules apply - batter ready with nine seconds left, pitch delivered before the clock hits zero.
If the batter is late, the home plate umpire can call an automatic strike and if the pitcher is late, it’s an automatic ball.
LeCroy seemed fine with the new timing aspects, but he said the other two experiments - limiting the number of pickoff throws and steps off the rubber to two per at bat, and limiting batters to one timeout per at bat - could be tricky, at least at first.
“It’s gonna be a learning process for the whole minor leagues,” he said. “Hopefully it goes smoothly, but I’m sure it’ll have some hiccups.”
During the course of each at bat with base runners aboard, pitchers get two free chances to control the running game, either with pickoffs, step offs, or a combination of the two. The pitcher can attempt a third, but if the runner is not called out, he is automatically awarded the next base.
“The thing that is concerning to me is the stepping off and throwing over when you don’t realize you’ve already (done it twice),” LeCroy said.
As for the batter timeout rule, he can only call one and a second would result in an automatic strike. Like the pickoffs, LeCroy said the batter just forgetting he has already called a timeout is the hangup for him.
These rules were used in tandem last season in the Low-A West and the Arizona Fall League and were partially responsible for game times being reduced by an average of 20 minutes.
From the pitchers’ perspective, without unlimited pickoffs, the only way to curtail the opposition’s running game is to be quicker in their delivery to the plate.
“For me, just make sure the pitchers are quick to the plate,” LeCroy said. “But a lot of times when you’re too quick to home, you lose stuff and you don’t want to do that as well.”
From the baserunning side, LeCroy said, “All our guys have the green light (to steal). As long as they get a time from either the third base coach or first base coach and they feel they’ve got a good read on a guy, they’ve got the luxury of going.”
If a pitcher has already used his two pickoff/step offs, it will be interesting to see if baserunners take a little bigger lead because they know the pitcher might not risk throwing over.
“If you’ve got peace of mind knowing that he’s got to get me out, I can get a couple (feet) more, absolutely,” LeCroy said. “If they know the guy’s got to pick me off (or the runner gets the base), I can cheat a little bit and still be able to get back and now I’m at second.”
Scorecard: Red Wings 3, Bisons 2
Top of 2nd
Wings starter Jefry Rodriquez worked a 1-2-3 first, but the first signs of what was to become a short and forgettable start began here. He walked leadoff hitter Justin Fuentes, and after Taylor took second on a groundout, he scored on Logan Warmoth’s ringing double to right-center. But he retired the next two hitters so it stayed 1-0.
Top of 3rd
Now, on a cold and windy day, this was not what anyone needed to sit through. The Bisons sent 14 men to the plate against Rodriquez, Sterling Sharp and Ben Braymer. They combined to give up eight runs on seven hits, four walks, and a wild pitch. Rodriquez faced five men and all five got hits. Sharp came in for his season debut and his contribution was two-thirds of an inning, three runs on two hits, three walks, and the run-scoring wild pitch. Braymer thankfully got the third out, but not before he walked in a run that made it 9-0.
Bottom of 4th
At least there wasn’t a shutout. Nick Banks and Andrew Young singled and both moved up a base on a ground out. Banks raced home on a passed ball, and Young scored on Adrian Sanchez’s single that cut the deficit to 9-2.
Clubhouse Chatter
Matt LeCroy on Cade Cavalli’s Thursday night outing:
“(Thursday) night if you look at the first three innings, it was electric,” LeCroy said. “Plus fastball, he was locating to both sides of the plate and then he ran into some trouble there at the end which is sometimes normal when you’re building somebody up. He didn’t have a normal spring training as far as building him up. He kind of pitched out of the bullpen in the big league camp and then we had to kind of get him going back on a normal routine of being a starter.”
Around The Horn
Back to .500: With the 10-1 loss to Buffalo Thursday night, the Red Wings fall back to .500...tonight’s game marks the third consecutive L the Wings have taken...they’ll look to even up the series tomorrow, as the two thru-way rivals are scheduled for two contests tomorrow with the first beginning at 1:05.
Familiar face: Catcher Chris Herrmann brought home the lone run tonight for the Plates (Red Wings), singling in Nick Banks with a ball through the right side, recording his first RBI of the season and his first with Rochester since August 1, 2015.
Kade Kavalli: Starting pitcher Cade Cavalli fanned seven Bisons batters tonight, marking a season-high total for a Rochester pitcher in 2022...the 2021 MiLB strikeout king punched out seven or more hitters 15 times last season during his time spent at three different levels (A, AA, AAA), covering 24 total starts.
Punching tickets: Plates pitchers struck out 15 Bisons hitters tonight...the fifth game this season in which the staff has combined for double digit K’s.
Because he gets on base: Luis Garcia went 3-for-4 in tonight’s loss, extending his current hitting streak to four games, going 8-for-18 since 4/9, and his on-base streak to eight games, reaching base in every game this season...Nick Banks also extended his hitting streak to seven games, going 1-for-3...he has produced nine hits in 27 at-bats since season began.
They found some green: Plates pitchers surrendered a season-high 16 hits tonight, allowing five of the extra base variety...the previous season-high was 11 which came in a 6-3 win vs. Toledo in the second game of the year (4/6)...Rochester’s bullpen also allowed a season-high earned run total, giving up five earned following Cavalli’s four plus innings of work.
A first: Left-fielder Matt Lipka picked up his first hit of the season tonight, dropping a bunt down the third-base line and beating the throw...every Rochester batter to appear in a game this season has now recorded at least one hit.
No homer, no W: The Red Wings continue to struggle when not launching a long ball, falling to 0-4 when not homering...The Red Wings currently have seven home runs this year, good for 12th in the International League, which has 20 members.