Why Posey is ‘jealous' of today's players in pitch-clock era
Why Posey is ‘jealous' of today's players in pitch-clock era originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
By all accounts, the new MLB pitch clock has been a hit, with Giants legend Buster Posey jealous of current players who get to play in faster games.
Speaking to The Athletic's Tim Kawakami in an exclusive interview, Posey was asked what his thoughts were on the implementation of the pitch clock, with the former catcher expressing his envy of how quick baseball games are now.
“And just to go further on me enjoying the first- and second-pitch outs, I’d say I’m jealous of those outs with the pitch clock now,” Posey said. “Because I’m sitting here watching the game and it’s like 2:15 in and they’re in the eighth. That’s a different animal now. It’s crazy now, isn’t it?”
Posey, now part of the Giants ownership group, was then asked by Kawakami if he would have loved catching games in the modern sped-up era of MLB, with the former MVP responding affirmatively.
“I would have, yeah,” Posey said. “I just think that it’s cut out a lot of necessary pageantry at times. Personally, I think my perspective … I don’t know if it’s changed but I just have more of an appreciation now being in the role that I’m in for the viewership product. And I just personally feel like it’s such a better product to watch.”
After years of complaints about the speed and length of the games, the league implemented a pitching clock at the start of the 2023 season. There is a 15-second countdown between pitches if no runners are on base and an 18-second countdown if runners are on base.
If the pitcher fails to begin their pitching motion in time, the pitcher will be charged with an automatic ball. Batters must be alert and in the box by the eight-second mark or else they will be charged with an automatic strike.
On average the length of MLB games in 2023 decreased by 30 minutes over the previous season, a major success for a league that had been reluctant to make any substantial changes to the game.
Posey was one of the central pieces to the Giants' three World Series championship teams in 2010, 2012 and 2014, winning the National League MVP in 2012. As an MLB catcher, Posey endured a beating behind the plate, particularly during a brutal collision with Florida Marlins outfielder Scott Cousins on May 25th, 2011, that resulted in a fractured fibula and torn ankle ligaments.
Given the shorter length of games in the pitch-clock era, Posey and other former players are undoubtedly a little jealous that current players get to have such a different and arguably better experience on the field.
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