MLB feels effect of new rules as pitch clock violation ends Red Sox-Braves game
Baseball’s new rules designed to improve pace of play are coming fast at everyone, particularly the players.
The most dramatic moment of the new pitch clock era arrived on the first full day of spring games. Cal Conley of the Atlanta Braves thought he had won his team’s game against the Boston Red Sox with a two-out, bases-loaded walk-off walk. He took a few steps toward first base with bat in hand when umpire John Libka indicated strike three. Conley wasn’t set in the box as the clock wound under eight seconds. The penalty is an automatic strike.
Bottom of the ninth. Tie game. Bases loaded. Full count. The dream scenario. And ... Cal Conley didn't get set in the batter's box with 8 seconds left on the pitch clock.

Umpire calls an automatic strike. At-bat over. Inning over. This is the new reality. pic.twitter.com/Bv5k2xJ06j
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 25, 2023
Conley, apparently thinking he had been awarded an automatic ball four, couldn’t believe it. He pointed to himself and said, “Me?” His teammates couldn’t believe it, either. Fans booed. Preseason games do not go to extra innings, meaning the contest ended in a 6-6 tie.
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It was a far more dramatic moment than when San Diego Padres slugger Manny Machado on Friday became the first player to draw a pitch clock violation when he was called for an automatic strike in the bottom of the first inning against Seattle because he wasn’t set in the box in time.
The pitch clock is one of the new rules designed to speed pace of play. Players will have 30 seconds to resume play between batters. Between pitches, pitchers have 15 seconds with nobody on and 20 seconds if there is a baserunner. The pitcher must start his delivery before the clock expires. After a pitch, the clock starts again when the pitcher has the ball back, the catcher and batter are in the circle around home plate, and play is otherwise ready to resume.
More sign stealing?
Could the pitch clock lead to more on-field sign stealing, in turn forcing managers to cut out the third base coach as the middleman for relaying signs?
Veteran managers Dusty Baker and Buck Showalter think so.
Baker took over as Houston’s manager in 2020 after AJ Hinch was fired following the revelation that the Astros had illicitly stolen signs in 2017, when they won the World Series, and again in 2018.
“I’m concerned about that because you’re always aware of people stealing signs,” Baker said on Saturday, when his defending World Series champion Astros beat Showalter’s New York Mets 4-2. “And then there’s the sensitive area. OK, are you cheating? Is that part of the game, stealing signs? If I know you’re hitting and running that’s what I’m supposed to do.”
Baker said there’s less time for the dugout to signal the third base coach, who in turn must relay signs to batters and runners, and therefore less time for to use decoys, making the signs easier to decipher.
Baker believes the pitch clock puts even more pressure on the third base coach to be quick – and somewhat deceptive. On the other hand, the pitch clock also limits the amount of time defenses have to react, even if they know a hit-and-run or bunt is coming.
Baker said the toughest job on the field is being a third base coach. “Everybody in the ballpark has eyes on him. Everybody’s trying to decipher his sequence of signs. There are guys in the stands, are guys now on videos. I mean, if you know what the opposition is going to do, that makes it even tougher to do. Yeah, I’m concerned about that.”
Showalter shares Baker’s concern to the point that he’s considering eliminating the middleman and having all signs come directly from the dugout, a practice common in the amateur ranks.
“There are so many things that, because we’re afraid to copy colleges or high schools because, ‘Oh, they’re amateurs and we’re pros,’ ” Showalter said. “There are things they did better. They don’t go through the third base coach. Why do we transfer stuff to a third base coach to then transfer to the player? It’s just another relay.”