Juan Soto admits he is not a fan of new pitch clock rule
Juan Soto discusses the adjustments he has to make and states that he is not a fan of the new pitch clock rule.
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[Pic Credit: Sports Illustrated]
The 2023 Major League Baseball is already underway. The new season has seen some great starts, great games, and a set of new rules. Whether it’s the new fielding shifts, larger bases, or pitch clock, the fans have raised their voice and opinions regarding them. The most important new feature which has been introduced this year is the pitch clock rule. To shorten the game length, MLB has introduced this new rule which has certainly not gone down well with a few players and fans and one of them is San Diego Padres’s, Juan Soto.
This new rule has already seen a set of players being charged with violations. Soto’s teammate Manny Machado was earlier ejected from the game after he argued with the home-plate umpire following a pitch clock violation. In ESPN’s recent broadcast of Sunday Night Baseball, Soto would admit that he is not a fan of this new rule.
“I mean it’s gotta be the time clock-the pitch clock whatever you call it. I dont like it at all” Soto said in his response to what the biggest adjustment he has to make in the 2023 season. The Padres who will soon have Fernando Tatis Jr back following his suspension, look like a team that can go the distance. They took 3 games out of the 4 against the Atalanta Braves before losing 5-0 to the Mets on Monday. They are currently second in the NL West, one game behind the D-Backs, and level with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Soto joined the Padres midway through the 2022 season. In his 51 games for the Padres, he managed to get 6 home runs and cashed in 16 RBIs at a batting average of .240. Before the trade, he played 101 times for the Nationals adding up to 152 games for the season. He finished with a batting average of .246 with 27 home runs and 62 RBIs to his name.
Related: Manny Machado ejected after arguing over pitch clock violation
Players have been ejected after they raised their voices regarding the new rule
It’s no surprise that the pitch clock rule has not been greeted with love by the fans and players. Manny Machado of the Padres and Tim Anderson of the White Sox have been ejected after they argued about their alleged violation. A few days ago. Los Angeles Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani set an unwanted record. He became the first player in MLB history to be charged with pitch clock violations, both as a batter and pitcher in the same game.
The debate regarding this topic is going to carry on for a while. This new rule has definitely brought out the results that the officials were looking for. Batting average and stolen bases have increased while the game-time has decreased by an average of 30 minutes. At the time of writing, the New York Mets are the team with the most pitch clock violations. They have been charged 10 times.
As per the new MLB rules, pitchers have fifteen seconds to pitch with nobody on base and twenty seconds with runners in scoring positions. If a pitcher violates this rule, then he is charged with a ball which is added to the batter’s count. For the batters, they have to be ready to face the pitcher within eight seconds. Failing to meet his criteria, results in a hitter getting judged strike. If the batter has already collected two strikes and then goes on to violate this rule, he will be judged a a strikeout.
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Siddid Dey Purkayastha
(528 Articles Published)