CLEVELAND – Count Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer as not a big fan of trying to speed up the game of baseball.
The Indians Saturday starter who allowed one run in eight innings took center stage after the game and stated that he feels baseball’s new guidelines set by commissioner Rob Manfred to speed things up between innings is not something that is going to help the game, and that it might be putting player safety at risk as pitchers are not being able to get loose when they get to the mound.
Specifically on a day like Saturday in Cleveland when it was announced to be 37 degrees at first pitch, pitchers usually
do what they can to try to stay warm and try to take advantage of pitches between innings when they take the mound.
Bauer said that he feels that umpires, in an effort to move things along, are rushing pitchers to hurry up so the inning can get started.
“I came out, tried to get loose, but with the new Rob Manfred time BS, we have only a certain amount of time to get loose between innings, it’s hard to get loose sometimes, especially in conditions like that,” Bauer said. “It’s not safe, but whatever.”
The average nine-inning baseball game took 3 hours and 8 minutes to play last season. That’s up from 2 hours and 46 minutes in 2005. The Indians first two home games of 2018 have been more like a sprint than a marathon.
Friday’s home opener was two hours and 41 minutes, while Saturday’s game was just two hours and 29 minutes. Of course the weather and the lack of hitting has something to do with that as well.
The new rules to try and speed up the game includes that pitchers may throw as many warmup pitches as they want before the televised commercial break ends but will no longer be guaranteed eight warmup pitches.
“I told the umpire today one time when he was trying to tell me to speed up that ‘look I’ll take the fine if I need to, I’m not going to put myself at risk,'” Bauer said.
The sometimes outspoken Tribe pitcher was asked if he was being rushed to get out there and try and get his warmups in to start the innings. Bauer didn’t hold back in saying that he’s starting innings well before being ready to go.
“Rush? You don’t get to throw as much to get loose, you basically start off every inning not loose,” Bauer said.
Saturday’s 1-0 loss hinged on one pitch from Bauer, a solo home on the first pitch of the 7th inning thrown to Royals DH Lucas Duda, who hit a high fastball over the wall in right for the only run of the game.
Bauer said that the new rules put he and the Indians at a disadvantage in terms of if he’s not ready to pitch and is not warmed up, like he said he wasn’t Saturday, it could contribute in costing the Indians the game, which it could have done in the 1-0 loss to the Royals.
“I’m not going to put the team at risk of putting the team at risk of having what happened, happened,” Bauer said. “You throw a pitch you’re not ready to compete on because you’re still trying to get loose, and they hit it over the fence, and you lose the game because of it, not because of it but it’s a contributing factor.”
Two new between inning rules that Bauer seems to be indicating him not being able to get loose are written as follows:
— As has been the case since the start of the 2016 season, a timer will count down between innings from 2:05 for breaks in locally televised games, from 2:25 in nationally televised games and from 2:55 for tiebreaker and postseason games.
— The difference now is that at the 25-second mark, the umpire will signal for the final warmup pitch and the pitcher must throw it before the clock hits 20. The batter will be announced at the 20-second mark and the pitcher must begin his windup to throw the first pitch of the inning within the five seconds before the clock hits zero.
— Another important change is that a pitcher is no longer guaranteed eight warmup pitches between innings. However, he can take as many as he wants within the countdown parameters noted above. The timer will start on the last out of the inning, unless the pitcher is on base, on deck or at bat, in which case the timer shall begin when the pitcher leaves the dugout for the mound.
Bauer said it’s not always about needing to throw pitches, but it’s more about getting loose, which Saturday with temps in the 30’s all game and wind chills well below that, was not an easy thing to do.
“I don’t think I needed them,” Bauer said of the warmup pitches.
“It’s just hard when you’re being rushed to get your warmup pitches in, I think they took a total of 40 seconds away from us in between innings this year, I just know a lot of people have felt rushed between innings this year.”
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