Bruce Botch (68), coach of the Texas Rangers, who has won three World Series championships, spoke about the positive effect of the pitch clock (time limit) introduced in the major leagues this season.
In an interview ahead of a home game against the Baltimore Orioles held at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas on the 4th (Korea City), Bochy expressed his thoughts on the new regulation, saying, “I think it will help the players.”
Starting in the 2023 season, Major League Baseball puts a limit on pitching time. The pitcher must be in motion within 15 seconds when there is no runner and 20 seconds when there is a runner, and the batter must be ready to hit before 8 seconds remain. 스포츠토토
With the introduction of the pitch clock, major league game time has been significantly reduced. According to ‘AP’, the average duration of the game after the first series of the opening was 2 hours and 38 minutes, which was reduced by nearly 30 minutes compared to the average time of 3 hours and 8 minutes in the first 4 days of the 2022 season.
In the case of Texas, the first two games of the three-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies lasted 3 hours and 4 minutes and 3 hours and 10 minutes as they flowed into a batting match, but the game on the 3rd ended in 2 hours and 24 minutes.
Considering that both teams used four pitchers each and pitchers were swapped in the middle of the inning, it was definitely fast paced.
“Among the games we played, there were games that would have lasted more than four and a half hours in a typical year,” said coach Bochy. “I think we can give the players more time to rest,” he said. He said he would give it time.
“I am also in favor of reducing game time. I’ve said it before, but there was a feeling that the game was stretching too much. In the past, there were many players who were procrastinating. It’s not doing that anymore. We are in the entertainment industry, so fans who come to see more want to see more action.”
It may be disadvantageous for pitchers in that they have less time to think about important matches. Regarding this, he said, “I tell players to use time-out opportunities when they catch important outs,” and said that they are using time-outs. He said, “If the coach watches and thinks it’s going to break the rules, he calls a timeout. But that was allowed only once,” he said, noting that he was watching the game even from the bench.
Another change that occurred with the introduction of the pitch clock is the increase in stolen bases. This is the result of the pitcher’s number of checks being limited to two per at-bat. As of the first four days after opening, 29 out of 43 stolen base attempts in 2022 were successful, while in the 2023 season, 70 out of 84 attempts were successful.
In particular, on this day, the opponent Baltimore tried 10 degrees and succeeded in all of them.
Coach Bochy expressed his vigilance, saying, “The opponent is a team with speed and aggressive running,” but expressed expectations that the catchers would block it, saying, “Our team’s catchers are doing a good job catching runners.”