Major League Pitch Clock Violations See Significant Decline in Second Season
In its second year of implementation, the pitch clock has led to a substantial decrease in violations across the league. A total of 602 infractions were recorded, a notable drop from the 1,048 tallied in the inaugural season.
Houston topped the list with 35 violations, followed closely by Washington with 31. Arizona, the Los Angeles Angels, and Milwaukee rounded out the top five with 30, 29, and 29 violations, respectively. Pittsburgh, the New York Mets, and Atlanta trailed closely behind, each with 27, 26, and 25 violations.
On the individual front, Washington’s Kyle Finnegan led the pack with 11 violations. Toronto’s Chris Bassitt followed with eight, while Texas’ John Gray, Atlanta’s Reynaldo López, and the Mets’ Jose Quintana each tallied seven. Cleveland’s Tyler Beede, Houston’s Framber Valdez, and the Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto rounded out the top five with five violations each.
Among batters, Andy Pages of the Dodgers committed the most infractions with five, followed by Washington’s Ildemaro Vargas with four. A trio of players – Houston’s Yordan Alvarez, Philadelphia’s Nick Castellanos, and Pittsburgh’s Oneil Cruz – each recorded three violations.
In addition to pitch clock violations, there were 34 instances of pitchers exceeding the disengagement limit and five cases of batters calling timeout illegally. Notably, defensive shift violations plummeted to just two, a significant decrease from the 26 recorded in the rule’s inaugural season. The two infractions occurred on May 17 and May 20, courtesy of Minnesota shortstop Carlos Correa and Boston shortstop Ceddanne Rafaela, respectively.
Leave a Reply