TCU’s Schlossnagle isn’t a fan of this new college baseball rule
TCU baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle ripped a rule change last year requiring pitchers to have both feet on the rubber in the windup. Now, he’s disappointed with another change college baseball is making by implementing a 20-second pitch clock this season.
“I don’t like it because I don’t think it was necessary,” Schlossnagle said. “There are certain parts of the country in which it is necessary. There’s some teams that play really, really slow and screw up the pace of the game for everybody. That’s where it’s coming from.”
TCU baseball fans will be introduced to the new rule when the Horned Frogs open their season on Friday with a three-game series against Kentucky. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. at Lupton Stadium.
A pitch clock in baseball has been a subject of debate for years. Double A and Triple A leagues implemented pitch clocks in 2015, and college baseball is now following suit.
The 20-second pitch clock will be enforced on every pitch.
If a pitcher does not deliver a pitch within the 20-second window, a ball will be awarded to the batter. Conversely, if a batter does something to violate the 20-second rule, a strike will be awarded to the pitcher.
Jim Carone, Wagner’s coach and the NCAA baseball rules committee chair, explained the 20-second pitch clock by saying: “As we get later in ballgames, things seem to take a little longer, and the game slows down.
“We felt it is important that we have action every 20 seconds to keep the game flowing.”
Most Power Five programs, such as TCU’s Lupton Stadium, will have pitch clocks located in the outfield and behind home plate. Smaller schools with budget restrictions may simply have the umpires keep track of the pitch clock.
The clock will reset if a pitcher steps off the rubber, or if there’s a pickoff attempt by the pitcher.
As Schossnagle said, “In theory, it could not slow the game down at all.”
To Schlossnagle, the pitch clock is simply unnecessary and another burden for umpires to worry about.
“It’s not really a factor for us, but I just hate that it’s one more thing that’s not real baseball,” Schlossnagle said. “Sometimes college baseball goes overboard in coming up with new rules when we could just follow what major league teams do.”
Along with the pitch clock, another rule change being implemented this season is bat testing in all games, not just conference games.
Banning shifts?
Another talking point in baseball these days is banning defensive shifts.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has reportedly considered the idea, and it’s been discussed at the college level. But Schlossnagle feels that’s lower on the totem pole for college compared to pros for multiple reasons.
College baseball has fewer games and shorter seasons so, by the time the data becomes realistic to implement, the season is almost over. And the ability level from a pitching standpoint is significantly different.
“In professional baseball, every pitcher can throw in the low to mid 90s [mph] for the most part,” Schlossnagle said. “College baseball is not that.”
As far as his preference, Schlossnagle is OK with shifts. He sees no reason to ban on-field strategies teams may use to gain an advantage against an opponent.
“If you can’t figure it out as a hitter how to beat that, then that’s on you,” Schlossnagle said. “The best players are the best players because they use the whole field to hit.”
