The Arizona Fall League is testing out several rules intended to speed up the pace of games this season. Those measures include a 20-second time limit between pitches and a two-minute, five-second break between each inning, both of which are clocked.
Pace of Play clocks installed next to each dugout at @MLBazFallLeague opener tonight. Horrifying. pic.twitter.com/UC2sbS1dac
— Steve Berthiaume (@BertDbacks) October 8, 2014
Naturally, pitchers have required some adjustment to these clocks. Astros prospect Mark Appel had some trouble dealing with them in Tuesday’s AFL game between Salt River and Surprise.
As explained by MiLB.com’s Kelsie Heneghan, Appel froze in the first inning when an opposing baserunner faked a run toward second. Rather than step off the rubber, he opted not to make a throw and the 20-second clock expired, resulting in a ball being called.
In the third, Appel’s warmup pitch got past his catcher and he missed with a throw to second base. That caused the 2:05 between-innings clock to run out, resulting in the pitcher getting charged with another ball.
After the game, Appel acknowledged that he could adjust to the new rules by making a throw to a middle infielder before the pitch clock expires and throwing one or two fewer warmup pitches before an inning. But pitchers need to be given a chance to make those adjustments.
“I don’t know how well it’d be received in the big leagues. I got called for two balls because of the clocks,” Appel told Heneghan. “It was only [used in college] when nobody was on. I think that makes a lot of sense, but I think you get into tricky situations when runners are on and they do a false break.”
[MiLB.com]
