New York Yankees staff and players called out match officials over a pitch lock violation call that went against them.
MLB introduced a new set of rules for this season to elevate the competitiveness of the League and make it more fast-paced for the viewers. The pitchers earlier used a tactic to slow innings down by casually wasting time on the mound in between pitches. Hence, to curb this, the MLB enforced a pitch lock rule. Under the new law, a pitcher will have only 15 seconds of a cooling period in between pitches, and a violation of it will result in a strikeout.
Furthermore, the pitch lock rule came into effect for the first time in the ongoing Grapefruit League. The pitchers are following a 15-second clock in between pitches. The New York Yankees earlier hailed the new rule and termed it as the best possible way to reduce unnecessary waste of time. However, in a recent spring training outing, the Bombers were seen staging a protest over the same law.
Yankees Protest Flawed Pitch Lock Violation Call
In a surprising turn of events, the New York Yankees staged a protest during their spring training game against the Detroit Tigers after a bizarre violation call went against them. The call in question occurred in the fourth inning when Yankees pitcher Luis Severino was on the mound preparing for his next pitch. In accordance with the new pitch lock rule, Luis took his time to deliver his pitch, holding the ball for several seconds beyond the 15-second clock before throwing.
However, the umpire deemed that Severino had violated the pitch lock rule and awarded pitch four to Austin Meadows on the plate. This decision triggered the Yankees’ coaching staff and Luis Severino. He termed the call “stupid” and said he had an eye on the clock, and it showed two seconds remaining before he started doing his windup. Furthermore, skipper Aaron Boone, too, called out the decision by saying it was a clear non-violation and absolutely unacceptable. On MLB’s part, they are still altering the application of the rule to make it less complicated for the players to understand.
Aaron Judge Asks Teams To Be Patient With The Pitch Lock Rule
Meanwhile, New York Yankees captain Aaron Judge earlier shared his honest thoughts on the newly introduced pitch lock rule. In an interview with Bryan Hoch, Judge termed the law as “a good thing for everybody.” The slugger further compared it to the NBA’s shot clock rule. He said that when NBA introduced a new rule, players struggled to cope with it initially.
However, with time, teams got used to it, and it was a huge success. Hence, he urged the MLB teams to be a little patient with the pitch lock law and find a way to adjust to it. It will eventually help the pace of the game in the longer run. Well, it seems like Aaron certainly did not look within his own camp while preaching the philosophy to others.