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San Diego Padres star Manny Machado becomes the first MLB player to be penalized for the new shot clock that will revolutionize baseball in the spring training game against the Seattle Mariners.
Baseball’s new timing device made its major league debut Friday during a limited schedule of spring training starts and Manny Machado, the All-Star slugger for the San Diego Padres, was its first victim.
Machado found out the hard way that the shot clock works both ways. He wasn’t fully in the batter’s box and alerted Seattle Mariners lefty Robbie Ray when the 15-second clock ticked down to less than 8 seconds in the bottom of the first inning.
Umpire Ryan Blakney called timeout and signaled strike one against Machado, who finished second in the NL MVP race last season.
Machado barely flinched. She singled on a 2-1 pitch and then picked up another single on her second down.
The shot clock is being used by all MLB franchises during spring training games.
San Diego Padres slugger Manny Machado was the first to be stung by the new shot clock
Machado, who batted between superstars Xander Bogaerts and Juan Soto, laughed about it afterwards.
Get into the record books, at least. That is a good one. It’s not bad,’ Machado said. “I could be 0-1 if I can get two hits in every game.”
The shot clock is among several new rules designed to improve pacing. Players will have 30 seconds to resume play between batters. Between pitches, pitchers have 15 seconds with no one and 20 seconds with a runner.
The pitcher must start his pitch before the clock expires. After a pitch, the clock starts over when the pitcher recovers the ball, the catcher and batter are in the circle around home plate, and play is ready to resume.
Batters must be in the box and alert the pitcher with at least eight seconds left. Batters may call timeout once per plate appearance, stopping the countdown. When a pitcher does not throw a pitch on time, the penalty is automatic ball. When a batter isn’t ready on time, it’s an automatic strike.
“That moment passed quickly,” Machado said. ‘It’s definitely something we’ll have to get used to. It sort of takes the grind out of you, being up there and concentrating before the launch.
The ref gave me a little warning, “Hey, you have two seconds,” but it was already late when I got there.
‘You have 30 seconds and you have to be ready at eight. Forget impromptu songs for real,” she added with a laugh. It’s going to be interesting. I always touch the referee out of respect. Those things will start to get out of the way.
Teams have been getting used to the shot clock by using it in live batting practice this spring.
Hitters can’t get out of the box between pitches, “which I don’t care about,” Machado added. You can just keep one foot in the box and recover.
“Getting to the box is where he’s going to get the guys up to speed,” Machado said. Even the pitchers, if they’re down 2-0, how are they going to take a break and lock up again without getting penalized? It’s the same going up there when you’re hitting.
‘It’s going to be an interesting year. It’s going to be fun. Who knows where this leads? There will be a lot of strategy involved in this.’