If you hadn’t heard, there’s new rules that supposedly will better the pace of play in major league baseball. Yeah…
There’s one stat that I’m pretty sure isn’t routinely kept by teams – the number of mound visits per game. I am guessing that the Atlanta Braves aren’t one of the worst violators, but with more emphasis on young pitching this season, that could be a problem.
Already, we’re seeing lines drawn in the sand about these new rules, which we noted a couple of days ago.
Here’s the thickest of those lines, from Willson Contreras – you may have heard of him: he has a brother who is a Braves’ catching prospect. But he’s not the only one:
#Cubs catcher Willson Contreras says he may be ignoring MLB's new mound visits rule: https://t.co/VI8eayfDKg
— FRS Baseball (@FRS_Baseball) February 21, 2018
Christian Vazquez is no fan of rules meant to speed up pace of play. "If I need to go 12 times for a mound visit, I need it, man." https://t.co/8T88HAt7IF
— John Tomase (@jtomase) February 21, 2018
Well, that could get interesting.
The rule changes actually do not specify any penalties for their violation. Brilliant, that. But do I expect penalties? You bet.
The rules – and later suggest that it is the umpire who has the power to grant – or deny – mound visits once the maximum of 6 has been reached.
6 mound visits per nine innings doesn’t seem like a lot, but I wonder how often a team actually hits that number in a game.
— Eric Stephen (@ericstephen) February 19, 2018
There is also clarification from MLB on a catcher visiting the mound when signs are crossed up pic.twitter.com/65PixgQIi5
Well… Contreras or Vazquez may be willing to pay fines associated with breaking this rule, but he’s also going to discover that umpires don’t take kindly to insubordination, which is what we’re really talking about here.
In short, there need be no penalty specified in the rules, for there already is one:Â ejection.
Got more popcorn?
The Other Problem
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One of the definitions for ‘mound visit’ includes any player leaving his position to confer with the pitcher.
So how about walking a ball back to the mound like all good shortstops will do? How about hollering something to the pitcher during a defensive shift – especially if the third baseball ends up near second base?
How far can a player walk toward a pitcher before the ‘visit’ counts? Do such visits between batters count? So many questions… and I’m wondering how much input union chief Tony Clark had/gave before he agreed to the changes.
I guess the idea of sending Dansby to the mound to help kill time for a reliever to get ready is out.
This could get comical at times.