Cardinals Pitcher Tries To Explain Why He Likes New Pitch Clock, Ironically Gets Cut Off Due To An Early End To the Inning

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright tried to tell ESPN why he likes the new pitch clock rule, but he got cut short as the inning ended.

Major League Baseball’s spring training games began on Friday, and the league introduced its new pitch clock to help speed up the game. With nobody on base, the pitcher has 15 seconds to deliver the pitch, and with runners on, the pitcher has 20 seconds. A batter must be in the box ready to hit when the clock hits eight seconds left.

If the batter is not ready, the umpire will call a strike; if the pitcher does not deliver the ball before the clock hits zero, the batter will receive a ball.

Wainwright was a guest on ESPN’s broadcast of the Cardinals’ game against the New York Mets, and he was asked his thoughts about the new rules.

“It’s quick,” Wainwright said. “And I don’t mean once the at-bat started ’cause I like working quick anyways. So that hasn’t bothered me at all. The thing that caught me off guard was between innings and between batters.”

As soon as he finished, the inning ended, and ESPN was ready for a commercial break.

“Do we need to talk about this next half?” Wainwright said.

After ESPN’s play-by-play announcer, Karl Ravech informed Wainwright they had 20 seconds before they were sent off to break, the Cardinals pitcher sped up his words to give his reasoning.

“Got it, got it,” Wainright said. “I like to take my time between batters and going out there so I can get my mind and body in the right place to succeed, but now, man, you got to be ready to play right away.”

“You’re the best, landing the plane, Adam Wainwright,” Ravech said before the commercial break began.

There have been some strange scenarios due to the pitch clock through the first four days of spring training. Most notably, a game between the Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves ended in a tie in a very unsuspenseful way.

With the game tied at six and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th with a 3-2 count, a Braves batter was not ready at the eight-second mark, so the umpire called strike three on him. Since it was a spring training game, neither team felt the need to continue, and the result was a draw.

It’s just the beginning of a long process of adjustment for Major League hitters.

Watch above via ESPN.

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