Advantage, pitchers: Wandy Peralta, Max Scherzer show how to work pitch clock
The Yankees' Wandy Peralta throws during spring training at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla., on Feb. 17. Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara
TAMPA, Fla.
Wandy Peralta didn’t expect to be a viral-video sensation for Thursday’s three-pitch strikeout of the Pirates’ Tucupita Marcano.
“I had no idea,” Peralta said through an interpreter. “I’m not much of a social media person.”
And yet the Yankees reliever was everywhere. What made this otherwise routine Grapefruit League K worthy of internet fame? The fact that Peralta dispatched Marcano in what seemed like record speed.
Blink and you may have missed the zippy Peralta, who wielded the pitch clock like a weapon during this particular at-bat.
The rattled Marcano took a first-pitch 85-mph slider for strike one, swung through a 94-mph sinker and then was frozen by a changeup.
Total time: less than 20 seconds. Not even a New York minute. A Twitter timeline can take longer to refresh.
The crafty Peralta has always toyed with tempo, and the pitch clock is only going to help him exploit that mind game with hitters. Nothing like big flashing timers to get them freaking out.
“I definitely have to use it to my advantage,” Peralta said. “Everyone can see the clock counting down, so that works for me. I can hold the ball, quick pitch. I can control the tempo.”
Roughly 24 hours later, Max Scherzer joined Peralta on the viral-video circuit after Friday’s dismantling of the Nationals’ Riley Adams — while using the opposite approach.
From the moment Scherzer arrived at Port St. Lucie, the Mets’ co-ace spoke about his plans for the pitch clock, noting that he planned to exploit the new rule for his own benefit (without initially providing the details).
Once Scherzer took the mound, we soon discovered what he meant.
On Friday, he got two quick strikes on Adams, a called 83-mph slider and a swinging 95-mph four-seamer. Then Scherzer got creative.
With a runner on, the clock was set at 20 seconds, and he stared at Adams for 13 of those — standing in a set position — before Adams finally burned his one and only timeout, backing away from the box.
After the clock reset, Adams stepped in, ready to hit with 10 seconds left. Scherzer immediately fired a 96-mph fastball that Adams fouled into the catcher’s glove for the hasty K.
A few hours later, when asked about it during his pregame media session at Steinbrenner Field, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he already had seen the video. We’re only a week into the exhibition schedule, but the intelligence-gathering needs to be operating at warp speed as teams prepare for every contingency involving these new rules.
“I think guys gotta get used to that,” Boone said. “Wandy is a guy that I just instinctively think is going to do different things within the context of it that may be a slight edge for him, whereas another pitcher might be at a little bit of a slight disadvantage.”
Following that up, I asked Boone if he believed it would be smarter for pitchers to not put all of their clock-related tricks on display and instead save some for the regular season. He seemed to favor preparation over the element of surprise.
“I don’t know if it’s necessarily you don’t want to show anything,” Boone said. “I think you want to learn and experience, and now how do I want to go about it, because everyone will be a little bit different. Hitters and pitchers alike have to learn how to combat that kind of stuff.”
File all this under the heading “unintended consequences.” Drawing new battle lines between pitchers and hitters — perhaps even tilting the balance in favor of the former — was not Rob Manfred’s intention during his decade-long push to install a pitch clock. The commissioner just recognized the urgent need to quicken the pace as games regularly soared past three hours. The most direct path to that goal was shortening the time between pitches, hence the timer.
Here in the first week of March, it appears that Manfred has achieved the desired result. Games are whistling by at a rate not seen since the early 1980s. But for a sport craving more action, did MLB unwittingly hand the pitchers another ace up their sleeve to go with the triple-digit fastballs and supernatural sliders?
While the early indication would suggest yes, some believe that could be premature. This remains a process for both sides, and maybe the hitters just haven’t caught up yet, which usually is the case in spring training anyway.
On Friday night, Gerrit Cole — making his debut with the pitch clock — noticed the benefit of hitters unable to call timeout more than once. But he’s unsure how long that will stick over time as players are able to “process” the effects of the clock in the coming weeks.
“Overall, I think it will be less like trying to take advantage of it,” Cole said, “and more just like, keep the game going.”
But there’s always an edge to be gained somewhere. And now that the pitchers seemingly have been granted one, we’ll see how long it lasts.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
