MLB umpires are really buckling down on the pitch timer.
While the timer has sped up the average time of games by about a half hour in the early going, there are still some quirks with it that still get a side-eye from critics.
Friday night in Los Angeles included one of those moments with former Dodger Cody Bellinger.
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Bellinger, now a member of the Chicago Cubs, was playing his first game in Dodger Stadium as an opposing player after spening his first six seasons in LA and winning a World Series in 2020, an MVP in 2019 and Rookie of the Year in 2017.
Before the game, the Dodgers showed a tribute video, and the crowd gave him a nice ovation, but that wasn’t enough.
Just before his first at-bat, the Dodger faithful again showed their appreciation for their former October hero. He was once widely regarded as one of the game’s best players before a stunning decline that saw him hit .193 in 2021 and 2022 combined.
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Bellinger appreciated the gesture and acknowledged the crowd.
However, that hurt him in the count. The umpire charged him with a pitch timer violation, and before seeing a pitch, he was down 0-1.
Batters have eight seconds to be “alert” in the batter’s box, while pitchers have 15 seconds (20 with runners on base) to start their pitching motion. For the most part, since the start of the regular season, umpires have been giving an extra tick or so, similar to the NFL’s play clock.
The new rules, despite some puzzling moments here and there, have largely been great for the game, adding more offense and action in shorter games.
In comparing the first two weeks of this season and last, runs per game are up from 8.0 to 9.4, batting average is up from .230 to .250, stolen base attempts are at their highest since 2012 and the average length of game is down from 3:07 to 2:37.
