Wondering About Those Pitch-Clock Violations
PLUS: WILL WE SEE HISTORY MADE WITH MVP VOTING THIS FALL?
Pregame Pepper
Wondering why Michael Lorenzen remains unsigned? He allowed 30 runs (27 earned) in his final 30 1/3 frames for Philadelphia, where his already-modest strikeout percentage dropped and his previously-strong walk rate jumped . . .
Both Lorenzen and Domingo German pitched no-hitters last year but still have no teams this year . . .
Lorenzen’s request for a two-year contract topping $7 million a season lacks appeal this late in spring training, especially with two better arms available in Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery . . .
The New York Mets will open the season with journeyman lefty Jose Quintana on the mound and little hope of contending in a division dominated by the powerful Braves and Phillies . . .
Hard to believe the season starts Wednesday, with the Dodgers and Padres poised to clash in a two-game, first-ever series in Seoul, South Korea . . .
Prized Dodgers rookie Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who got a pitcher-record 12-year, $325 million deal, will work the second game.
Leading Off
Pitch-Clock Walk-Offs? So Far, Not Yet
By Andrew Sharp
Major League Baseball made it through the 2023 season without a game being decided on a pitch-clock violation by a pitcher or a batter. An early spring training game ended last season when a hitter was tardy getting into the batter’s box, but even in that one, neither team won as the game concluded after nine innings with the score tied.
The rules are the rules. Overall, players seem to have adapted well. As far as the time limits have contributed to shorter games, the fans seem to approve.
Yet, eventually and inevitably, a batter called out for a “walk-off” strike three or a pitcher assessed a bases-loaded Ball Four because of a clock violation is going to happen, just as games in the recent past have ended in “walk-off” balks. Some people, players and fans alike, will be livid.
On September 5 last season, for example, the Royals beat the White Sox, 7-6, on a ninth-inning balk. That was the Royals’ second “balk-off” win of the season. On August 1 in the National League, the Brewers beat the Mets, 7-6, on a balk in the bottom of the 10th that resulted from a pitch-com problem.
The winning run in a game has scored on a balk at least 25 times since 1901. Fifteen of the game-ending balks have happened since 2000.
Since the balk rule was established in 1898, the only decades that did not have any game-ending balks apparently were the 1920s and 1950s, according to a 2015 post (since updated) by Adam Gilfix of the Harvard Sports Analysis Collective. He compiled a list of all the game-ending balks that he was able to document through July 2016. There have been several more since then, including the three in 2023.
Some balks are obvious, although many do not involve a pitcher’s attempt to deceive a base runner, which is the reason the balk rule exists. In fact, a 2016 rules revision said: "Umpires should bear in mind that the purpose of the balk rule is to prevent the pitcher from deliberately deceiving the base runner.” Likewise, the pitch-clock is meant to improve the pace of play, not to decide a game’s outcome.
Yet most balks are judgment calls by umpires, such as when a pitcher attempts a pick-off after striding toward the plate instead toward first, or when –- as happened in the Royals’ September 5 win -- the pitcher does not pause after coming to a set. Perhaps the rules for pitch-clock violations should be relaxed a bit in the ninth or extra innings
Regardless of why a balk is called, this is not the way a game should end. Having a clock violation decide a game, which is bound to happen, will be even more egregious. Then baseball will no longer be the only pro sports whose games are not ended when time runs out.
Andrew C. Sharp is a retired newspaper journalist who has written and edited dozens of SABR Bio and Games project essays. He blogs about D.C. baseball at washingtonbaseballhistory.com
Cleaning Up
All Eyes Are On Tight Races For 2024 MVP Honors
By Dan Schlossberg
The Most Valuable Player Award, a baseball staple since 1931, could crash the history books this season.
If Dodger teammates Shohei Ohtani or Mookie Betts wins, he will join Hall of Famer Frank Robinson as the only men to win the trophy in both leagues.
If Ohtani or Bryce Harper win, they will become the only National League players to win it three times (Mike Trout has turned that trick in the American League).
If Ronald Acuna Jr. repeats the season that brought him unanimous MVP acclaim for the NL award last season, the slugging Atlanta lead-off man would become the first major-leaguer to win two in a row since Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers in 2012-13 and the first National Leaguer with back-to-back wins since Albert Pujols in 2008-9.
Last year, Acuna and Ohtani — then in the American League — won the two league awards by unanimous vote. But the NL field was tight after that, with Betts second, Freddie Freeman third, and Matt Olson fourth.
All had MVP-quality stats.
Now that Ohtani has hopped the free-agent gravy train to ride from Anaheim to Los Angeles, the Dodgers actually have four players with five MVPs between them.
Betts won for Boston in 2018, Freeman for Atlanta in 2020, Ohtani for the Angels in 2021 and 2023, and Clayton Kershaw for the Dodgers way back in 2014.
From 2001-2004, Barry Bonds actually took four in a row — increasing his record career total to seven. But that wasn’t enough to convince Cooperstown electors he belonged in the Hall of Fame, as he has now been bypassed by both the “regular” voters and the renamed Veterans Committee.
There are plenty of candidates for this year’s honors.
Acuna, a 26-year-old Venezuelan, ranks at the head of the class but must go head-to-head with Ohtani, 29, the two-way star whose elbow injury precludes him from pitching this summer. Left alone to concentrate on hitting, Ohtani could compete with Olson, whose 54 homers last year led both leagues.
It could be tough for any Dodger to win MVP honors regardless of how many games the team wins. Betts, Freeman, and Ohtani will likely divide the vote, reducing the chances that any of them wins.
On the other hand, Acuna’s only potential challengers among teammates are Olson, who never had a 40-homer season before 2023, and streak-prone slugger Austin Riley.
A dark horse candidate among the Braves is Michael Harris II, whose prolific power production during spring training opened eyes in the Atlanta camp. An Atlanta native, Harris had a strong finish after a slow start last season.
Other threats to Acuna’s defense of his crown include sluggers Pete Alonso (Mets) and Cody Bellinger (Cubs), both potential free agents this fall. That fact will certainly give them extra motivation.
The American League, on the other hand, needs someone to take up the Ohtani vaccuum. Aaron Judge, whose 62-homer season in 2022 allowed him to grab a trophy that seemed headed to Ohtani, will be a heavy favorite now that the Yankees have acquired Juan Soto, a much-needed left-handed slugger, from San Diego.
Soto himself has never won an MVP (despite a batting crown) but there’s always a first time.
Pure pitchers don’t win the honor often. Aside from Kershaw, who went 21-3 and couldn’t be denied in 2014, the last hurler to grab an MVP was Justin Verlander, another future Hall of Famer, in 2011.
Many players, including Harper, have clauses in their contracts that provide financial bonuses for first or second-place finishes in the MVP balloting. Harper, who won the award while playing for Washington before jumping to Philadelphia via free agency, made a smooth transition to first base last summer and finally seems health enough to produce a monster year — especially with homer-friendly Citizens Bank Park his home for half the season.
But it will be tough to bet against Acuna or Ohtani, the defending MVPs who now find themselves in the same circuit.
They’re that good.
Former AP sportswriter Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ covers baseball for forbes.com, MLBReport.com, Sports Collectors Digest, USA TODAY Sports Weekly, Memories & Dreams, Here’s The Pitch, and many other outlets. He’s now on a speaking tour to promote his new Hank Aaron biography. Email him via ballauthor@gmail.com.
Timeless Trivia
Lonnie Smith and Adam Duvall are the only players who hit World Series grand-slams for the Braves . . .
The Yankees dodged a bullet with the news that No. 1 starter Gerrit Cole does not need surgery on his ailing elbow, though he could be out for two months . . .
The news is worse for Milwaukee’s All-Star closer Devin Williams, who will miss at least half the season with two stress fractures in his back . . .
Good thing the Red Sox gave Lucas Giolito a two-year contract, since the pitcher will be out for this season after being diagnosed with a partial UCL tear and flexor strain…
J.D. Davis, who played there before, could solve the long-standing third base problem of the New York Mets, who are not crazy about Mark Vientos or Brett Baty.
Know Your Editors
HERE’S THE PITCH is published daily except Sundays and holidays. Benjamin Chase [gopherben@gmail.com] handles Monday and Tuesday editions, Elizabeth Muratore [nymfan97@gmail.com] does Wednesday and Thursday, and Dan Schlossberg [ballauthor@gmail.com] edits the weekend editions on Friday and Saturday. Readers are encouraged to contribute comments, articles, and letters to the editor. HTP reserves the right to edit for brevity, clarity, and good taste.