Former Boston Red Sox reliever Joe Kelly, to no surprise, is blunt when it comes to sharing what issues he has with the nature of Major League Baseball rules.
Kelly has never feared making his feelings known, whether they’d be against the New York Yankees on the field, or when chiming in on the MLB offseason off the field. And with a 2023 season ahead as a member of the Chicago White Sox, a few new rules — which instantly came into effect during spring training exhibition — are set to debut.
However, while rule changes such as the pitch clock, shift ban or base-size increase are aimed at improving the product on the field, Kelly doesn’t believe enough has been done.
“We need (robotic umpires) ASAP,” Kelly said on NBC Sports’ “White Sox Talk” Podcast. “I feel like I threw a couple of pitches yesterday that were in the zone, that umps definitely missed. It’s just at this point with technology where we need everything to be the same. Baseball’s the only sport which I think is great, but I also think it’s actually (expletive) for actual records.”
Kelly added: “When you have an automatic strike zone where that’s taken out all of human error, I think that needs to be — as fast as we can get it, is what I want. Cause then you’ll know what a real strikeout is looking compared to the next guy.”
Another debate, especially relevant to pitchers like Kelly, is the currently illegal usage of sticky substances such as Spider Tack, which has shown to be an effective way to increase accurate pitch location.
“I think there’s so much room for interpretation that it needs to be an all-go or no-go,” Kelly said. “Like if it’s all-go, then don’t check hands. If it’s no-go, don’t leave a rosin bag on the mound. That’s the way I take it. There’s too much gray area. Too much room for interpretation. That hasn’t fared well for any kind of rule in the history of mankind.”
