the pitch clock is counting down to the MLB 2023 REGULAR SEASON THREAD

Also he only walked today but hello Casas 1B

WHAT A PLAY BY RAFAEL DEVERS YO SAVE A RUN! AND HELL OF A PICK BY TRISTON CASAS! pic.twitter.com/VOLHqhRj8C

— Tyler Milliken ⚾️ (@tylermilliken_) April 1, 2023

Bumgarner vs Kershaw tonight.

Baltimore 10/10 SB attempts over 2 games

phillies run differential after two games: -17

One of the points the radio commentators made at Fenway last night is that Baltimore runners appeared to be waiting until the pitch clock got to like 1 or 2 seconds and then just taking off. Once it gets down to that little time it's tough for the pitcher to change his mind about what he's doing

MLB announced that a total of 269 players representing 19 different countries and territories outside of the 50 United States were on Opening Day rosters and inactive lists. The Dominican Republic had the most, with 104, followed by Venezuela (62), Cuba (21), Puerto Rico (19), Mexico (15), Canada (10), Japan (8), Colombia (7), Curaçao (4), Panama (4), South Korea (4), the Bahamas (2), Nicaragua (2), Aruba (1), Australia (1), Brazil (1), Germany (1), Honduras (1), and Taiwan (1).

i didn't realize how many Venezuelan players there are in MLB!

When I was a kid they'd have exhibition games early in the season during those rain safety off days, I miss those.

Can’t even enjoy Astros losing cos Clevinger was the winning pitcher. 😒

At least Rodriguez, France and Raleigh are all hitting today.

You can tell how much faster the game is cos we’re at the top of the 7th in the Mariners-Guardians game and the commentators have only chatted about the stadium roof being stuck for about five minutes not 25.

I forgot about the ghost runner rule until now

I didn’t, too bad mariners forgot how to hit in the back innings

maybe deluding myself based on very sss but heartened that the white sox split their series against the astros in houston, with the losses being fairly close. i would love to see them rebound and meet the expectations they had last season

if anything, just to humiliate LaRussa and the circumstances that put him at the helm last year

Incredible!

Joey Wiemer's first outfield assist in the big leagues cuts down Big Dan Vogelbach. pic.twitter.com/7l4xbu0rSY

— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) April 3, 2023

Turang’s first homer is a grand slam! Cut to his parents sobbing in the crowd. Brewers beating the Mets 10-0 in the 5th.

Brice Turang hits a grand slam for his first MLB homer! @FarmToFame_ pic.twitter.com/9LtJG7hhnu

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) April 3, 2023

Giants have like six home runs if I'm counting correctly.

It ended up being seven home runs in all.

The Wiemer throw... did you see the stank he put on that follow-through?

xp I’m happy to see Bryce Johnson get called up, I heard Bart has a “tight back” hence not being played which I guess is good cos otherwise it’s not like Perez is all that impressive at the plate either (ik ik minuscule sample size…)

Yes, Bart is hurt and happy for Bryce. My biggest worry going into the year is Bart, Wade and Yaz. Yaz might have something left after all but yeah only a few games in.

Reinsdorf is like "fuck no I'm not paying for a VPN..." https://t.co/dr0TV7Qa90

— Beverly #Vote4BrandonJohnson Tweetmaker (@BvrlyTweetmaker) April 4, 2023

Looks like the D-backs were tipping pitches last night against the Dodgers. Some pictures: Kevin Ginkel slider (wrist curl, grass between arms), Kevin Ginkel fastball (no wrist curls, no grass) and Madison Bumgarner letting runner on second see right into his glove. pic.twitter.com/rd2H8C1TAL

— Eno Sarris (@enosarris) April 2, 2023

Sorry guys, I posted this completely unmemorable post in the fantasy thread by mistake:

limb tins & cum (gyac)
Posted: 5 April 2023 at 21:36:52
Ohtani got dinged for a pitch clock violation but went aside with the umpire at the end of the inning with his interpreter to try to explain that he hasn’t finished his windup when it was called.

Mariners have Flexen who I think is usually a reliever starting in place of Robbie Ray, and he’s doing pretty well (2 runs through 5, just one two run homer). Ohtani is having a difficult outing by his standards, running up pitch count and throwing a bit wild. He’s got out of a couple of jams cos of a double play and Mariners leaving guys on base. Oh guys!

I’m wondering how many pitchers are legit going to be not as good with the new rules and how many are just going to be lumped in with those after bad seasons.
Kikuchi on the jays has looked great and everyone is saying it’s because the clock is making him pitch quicker - but I’m not sold that that’s the case

watching the game it just seemed to suit him. manoah in his first start looked totally the opposite. but he improved drastically tonight, and this time he had kirk calling it. seems to me that we may see more catchers taking over as it cuts down on that race against the clock. i think i would just turn it over if it was me on the bump.

I was thinking that the pitch clock probably means not nearly as many shake-offs, right?

ya, has to. which might leave a lot of pitchers better off possibly?!

pretty good padres-braves game

It was, I caught the end of it.

Watching Cubs-Rangers on Apple TV & Dontrelle Willis is commentating. Said that Stroman, who’s kept out the Rangers for five innings so far, is one of only five (!) black starting pitchers in the league. Talked about the need to nurture talent in the cities because as an American game it should be accessible to all children, but pointedly said the expense of the game is a problem.

So much more interesting to listen to than the Tigers commentary with Kirk Gibson yesterday, no colour in his commentary at all 😴

I don't know exactly where baseball falls on the cost continuum of kid sports. More expensive than basketball, much less expensive than golf. Equipment, I mean--playing/league costs are another matter. Playing kid-hockey in a league in Canada is extremely expensive.

For whatever reason, the crowd noise is coming through really clearly from Wrigley Field. Cos Apple TV broadcast doesn’t cut away from the field between innings, the Cubs scoring off a dropped catch from Rangers outfield Garcia meant we heard someone scream GARCIA YOU SUCK, GARCIA YOU’RE A FUCKIN’ JOKE and now when the Rangers bring a reliever, Cole Regans on, screaming COOOOOOOOLE in this style:

https://i.postimg.cc/13xY9cXj/68-F6-F357-D34-B-42-E0-A7-A8-824399-AC33-A8.gif

the really slow roger roger chants at Fenway when Clemens was a Yankee are some of my fondest baseball memories.

Welcome home, Cutch. pic.twitter.com/cHI3c2Ikg5

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) April 7, 2023

Came here to post that. Very cool.

Another glovely play from Teoscar Hernández -- this one a 9-3 double play with an 86.0 mph throw that nabs José Ramírez to end the 5th inning. pic.twitter.com/BbbtWq9jRZ

— Daniel Kramer (@DKramer_) April 7, 2023

I am definitely not accustomed to his glove getting much praise. Love the guy, but part of the reason he got dealt was the jays wanted to focus more on defence

Yeah I saw that but he’s been solid out there for the Mariners! Started hitting and scoring as well.

Derby Sweetcoat is a beast

This fucking sucks tbh

Carlos Correa scratched a couple of hours after being named in the lineup (he didn’t play yesterday either)

Carlos Correa is out of today’s #MNTwins lineup again with back tightness, Rocco says. He also sat yesterday.

Very short bench today with Gallo’s availability still questionable, Correa down and Buxton not playing the field yet.

— Do-Hyoung Park (@dohyoungpark) April 10, 2023

was at the Brewer game on Easter. first time seeing a game with a pitch clock, took one inning to go from "probably a good idea but might cause other problems" to "this might actually save baseball". the game has much more of a rhythm to it now. knowing roughly when the next pitch is coming really does change the experience. only downside is they have to shorten all the in-game musical cues, it's a bit awkward

The Mariners are down a SP and a reliever atm, I would be interested to see if pitchers are getting injured during the adjustment period more or if they are just really unlucky.

The broadcast rhythms have totally changed too. You used to get a few nice long replays of home runs or diving stops, now you get one angle and any subsequent looks happen on a split screen with the next pitch! Also some pretty hilarious moments as announcers try to rush their ad reads through in 15 seconds. It's harum scarum out there.

But I agree w you frogbs, pretty much my sentiments exactly.

I feel like the pitchers might could use like *two* more seconds in there

while i think the clock is overall good for the game it would be disingenuous to say it's simply better and that's that. the fundamental deep rhythms of the game have been changed. the pitcher was in his own little world, the batter in his. and then for every pitch those two little worlds locked into each other. possibly grudgingly. the stretched out pace meant you didn't have to pay attention all that closely. you could go for a beer, get up for a pee, get heavily involved in a conversation about a strike em out throw em out double play you witnessed at fulton county stadium in 1985. maybe most importantly it was the players themselves who dictated this pace. they were like kings. we all waited on them. the batter wasn't ready til he was ready. if the pitcher needed awhile with the rosin bag or to warm up his hands, he was going to do it. they were the conductors of our entire experience. now they aren't. they must obey something else. a dumb set of digits that counts down. they're subject to bureaucracy just like the rest of us. you might think i'm overdoing this but i think it really changes the texture of what you're experiencing and makes these guys a little more human. that's not good or bad. but they're not quite the gods they once were.

that’s wonderfully stated…even more a shame that the players couldn’t keep that god status in check to prevent the pitch clock from happening in the first place. would love to a see a comparison of the new rhythm of a 2023 game compared to the rhythm of a game in 1970, and if they are similar.

agreed, booming post.