Major League Baseball has vowed to make changes to speed up the game, but for now, a pitch clock won’t be one of them.
MLB is “highly unlikely” to adopt a pitch clock for the 2015 season after a trial run in the Arizona Fall League, sources told FOX Sports on Sunday.
The clock used in the AFL allotted a pitcher 20 seconds from the time he received the ball to the time he delivered a pitch. Boston Red Sox prospect and Surprise Saguaros pitcher Keith Couch admitted that 20 seconds was “more than enough time to get your sign and deliver.” Yet the clock doesn’t have enough support among the league and the MLB Players’ Association to warrant its use at the big league level, sources told FOX Sports.
Implementing a pitch clock is one of many ideas that the league has considered to speed up the pace of play, a goal that could be expedited when new commissioner Rob Manfred replaces Bud Selig in late January. Last September, Red Sox chairman Tom Werner was among those appointed to a committee tasked with making the game shorter and has expressed his support for the pitch clock.
MLB owners will discuss potential rule changes — which include making hitters keep one foot in the batter’s box at all times and modifying the instant replay process — at their quarterly meetings in Arizona next week.
Thumbnail photo via Rick Osentoski/USA TODAY Sports Images
