New York Mets pitcher Max Scherzer would like some flexibility when it comes to enforcing MLB Shot Clock between entries.
During New York’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies On Thursday, Scherzer was not allowed to throw his eighth and final warm-up pitch before the fifth inning due to the 2-minute, 15-second clock running out.
New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez, left, and pitcher Max Scherzer walk back to the dugout during the sixth inning of a game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citi Field in Flushing, New York, on Thursday. (Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Scherzer’s warm-up pitches were delayed after catcher Francisco Álvarez made the final out of the fourth inning.
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«Why do we need a shot clock for that situation?» Scherzer asked reporters after the game. «If I throw one more pitch, am I a second slower? Why can’t the referee has discretion in that situation to allow a pitcher to throw his normal eight warm-up pitches?
Scherzer said home plate umpire Tripp Gibson told him that Major League Baseball he would be «mad at him» if he allowed Scherzer to throw another warmup.
New York Mets starting pitcher Max Scherzer talks with home plate umpire Tripp Gibson before the fifth inning of a game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citi Field in Flushing, New York on Thursday. (AP Photo/Baby Matthews)
«Why do we have to be so anal about this, have the clock in everyone’s face, shoved in everyone’s face, and try to get out every little second that’s passing in the game?» Scherzer continued. «It’s situations like that that are really frustrating not only for the pitchers, the players, but even the umpires. And that’s what Tripp says. Tripp is in handcuffs. Why is Tripp in handcuffs to not allow something normal, a normal routine? Just a normal routine. Why can’t Tripp make that call?
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«He said thank you for speaking for the refs because the refs want to have that discretion. They want to allow the game to be normal. But the refs are frustrated, like us, that the game is not normal, that we are just living and dying by the clock. And that was our conversation. I said, look, I’ll speak for you. We’re too much thinking by the clock in every situation instead of letting the players have their normal routines.»
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MLB has implemented a shot clock for the 2023 season, with a 30-second timer between batters, a 15-second timer with bases empty, and a 20-second timer with runners on base. Pitchers who violate the timer are penalized with an automatic ball.
New York Mets starting pitcher Max Scherzer looks back as he talks with home plate umpire Tripp Gibson before the fifth inning of a game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citi Field in Flushing, New York on Thursday. (AP Photo/Baby Matthews)
Hitters are also affected, they need to be in the box and alert with eight seconds remaining on the cast timer, or charged with an auto hit.
Scherzer allowed just one run in seven innings in his start Thursday as the Mets swept the Phillies.
Associated Press contributed to this report.