Manny Machado has been a vocal opponent of Major League Baseball’s adoption of the pitch clock, and the Padres slugger really won’t like it after Tuesday.
San Diego continued its series against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday after a thrilling walk-off home run from Ha-seong Kim. But the Padres were without Machado after the first inning when the designated hitter received a pitch clock violation on a full-count, which ended the inning.
Machado argued the automatic strike, and the home plate umpire ejected the 30-year-old from the game. This made the slugger the first player in MLB history to be ejected for arguing a pitch clock violation. Machado also was the first MLB player to be hit with a pitch clock violation at the start of Padres spring training.
Nelson Cruz came on for Machado and hit a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth inning to put San Diego up 2-0.
Fans at Petco Park were not pleased, and Machado might have a legitimate case. The six-time All-Star appeared to call for time — under the new rules, batter’s are allowed one timeout — at the eight-second mark, but the umpire likely viewed it as too late.
Umpires have been criticized for being too strict in upholding the rules, but the enforcement seen in the start of the 2023 season likely is MLB wanting to show it is serious about the new rules.
It’s still a small sample size, as of Tuesday, so the effects of the new rules have yet to be determined. MLB should be open to be more lenient when it comes to marginal violations, but players also should be quick to adapt, especially since there’s a portion of batters who already are accustomed to the pitch clock since its introduction in the minors in 2015.
