This is not the intent of the pitch clock.<\/p>\n
In fact, it’s a shining example for umpires of how not to implement it.<\/p>\n
During the first inning of Monday’s game between the Chicago Cubs and Kansas City Royals, Cubs centerfielder Seiya Suzuki fouled off a 3-1 slider from Royals starter Noah Cameron. The ball bounced off the dirt at Suzuki’s feet and straight back up into what’s frequently referred to in these instances as Suzuki’s groin.<\/p>\n
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But we all know where it hit him \u2014 where it hurts.<\/p>\n
Thankfully for Suzuki, the blow appeared to be glancing. But even a glancing blow is cause for at least a moment of pause, which Suzuki took to walk things off.<\/p>\n
By the time Suzuki got settled back into the batter’s box \u2014 in a more than reasonable amount of time, given the circumstances \u2014 the pitch clock had expired. And home plate umpire Clint Vondrak called Suzuki for a pitch-clock violation. The penalty for the violation was the third strike of Suzuki’s at-bat and the end of the inning.<\/p>\n
Suzuki, commendably, walked calmly to the dugout without protest. Cubs manager Craig Counsell walked out of the dugout to take up Suzuki’s case.<\/p>\n
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Counsell gestured toward his own groin area while pleading with Vondrak to demonstrate the absurdity of the situation. When a baseball player gets hit in the, ahem, groin, with a baseball, he should automatically be provided with some leeway to get back to the batter’s box.<\/p>\n
There’s no specific hit-in-the-groin exception in the language of MLB’s pitch timer rules<\/a>. There shouldn’t have to be. The moment the ball hits a batter’s groin is the moment a timeout should be triggered. Suzuki shouldn’t have to call one. This is common sense.<\/p>\n There is leeway in the rulebook for an umpire to exercise common sense.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n