Mets pitcher Max Scherzer tried a new approach in the 3rd inning against Washington early in Spring Training, shuffling his cadence to use the pitch clock to his advantage. Was this Set Position Strategy legal, though? Article: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Discord: [ Ссылка ]
Scherzer was called for an illegal pitch (a quick return pitch) during his at-bat with Nationals player Victor Robles, HP Umpire Jeremy Riggs ruling that Scherzer got a little too eager in starting his delivery to the batter while Robles was not even looking toward the mound. Scherzer did get a few Nats to request "Time" due to the odd pitching cadence (batters are only allowed one "Time" request per at-bat under the new pace of play rules), but was also called for a pitch clock violation of his own when Scherzer allowed the clock to expire (reach zero seconds) during a subsequent at-bat when Scherzer held the ball to, again, try and mess with the opposing batter's timing.
Although Scherzer's strategy may have disrupted his own rhythm more-so than the opposition's (Scherzer's line was 2.2 IP, 7 R), the question concerns whether his moves were legal?
We already know that a quick pitch is illegal. Official Baseball Rule 6.02(a)(5) states, "Umpires will judge a quick pitch as one delivered before the batter is reasonably set in the batter's box."
An illegal pitch occurring with runner(s) on base results in a balk (as occurred here), while an illegal pitch with the bases empty results in the penalty of an automatic ball, similar to the pitch clock expiration penalty for pitchers (or catcher violations for that matter).
Finally, we review the Set Position rules in OBR 5.07(a)(2) to say that Scherzer coming set before the batter is reasonably ready IS LEGAL, as the rule simply states HOW set position is attained and prohibits things like stepping off the rubber after getting the signs or failing to come set whatsoever after the stretch or, with runners on, failing to stop in set.
