Diamondbacks: Zac Gallen Exposes Pitch Clock Issue

Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images) (Right) MESA, ARIZONA - FEBRUARY 23: Ryan Noda #73 of the Oakland As poses for a portrait on media day at HoHoKam Stadium on February 23, 2023 in Mesa, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Bernacchi/Getty Images

March 8, 2023

Zac Gallen Exposes Pitch Clock Issue

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (Mar. 7) — Zac Gallen is not a pitcher who has to worry about making the Arizona Diamondbacks‘ roster for 2023. The only question with the right-hander is where he will appear in the rotation. So his first spring outing, which came Tuesday against the Oakland Athletics, was about getting his feet under him, seeing a different uniform in the batter’s box, and getting his timing right. The timing element was especially important, as Gallen — along with every other pitcher in the majors — must get used to working with the pitch clock. And in his lone strikeout — a called third strike for the first out of the game — exposed an issue with the pitch clock.

Gallen faced Athletics first baseman Ryan Noda with runners on first and second, and nobody out in the top of the first. The count reached 2–2. What happened next depends on who is speaking. Noda had called time, briefly stepped out of the box, and stepped back in. After about three seconds, Gallen fired a 94-mph fastball navel-high and over the heart of the plate. Noda, not expecting it, protested in vain to plate umpire Bruce Dreckman upon hearing “strike three!”

What Ryan Noda Saw

“(Gallen) threw a quick pitch,” Noda calmly recounted. “It happens. With all the new rules in the game, people are trying to figure out ways to get around them. I know Scherzer started it, but it happened again. And you know, it’s just baseball sometimes.”

Noda referred to an incident from Friday’s Grapefruit League contest between the New York Mets and Washington Nationals. With no outs and a runner on first in the top of the third, Mets right-hander Max Scherzer was ready to pitch. Nationals center fielder Victor Robles, who had called time and stepped out of the box, stepped back in. As soon as he looked up, Scherzer delivered. The plate umpire called time, declared it a quick pitch, and charged Scherzer with a balk. In Tuesday’s game, there was no balk. Noda said that Dreckman told him, “We’re trying to get ahead with the new rules just like you guys are. If we missed it, we missed it, that’s on me not being ready, also.”

What Zac Gallen and Torey Lovullo Saw

Gallen saw the play differently than Noda did. “I didn’t realize he called time,” he explained. After Noda stepped out and got back in the box, Gallen said he wasn’t changing the pitch, so he came set. “I thought he looked at me for a good second and a half, two seconds. And I thought, ‘Okay, he seems ready to go. Pitch.’ Then he said something to Bruce about it, and Bruce said (between innings), ‘You’re not allowed to do that.’” Gallen, after wondering to reporters why his strikeout stood if he wasn’t allowed to do what he did, added that he didn’t know how long the pitcher has to wait before pitching. He called it a “grey area” before concluding, “That’s gonna be interesting to see how that goes.”

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo didn’t think Gallen manipulated the situation. “If the umpire felt like he was,” Lovullo deduced, “he would have probably called timeout or told him that it was an illegal pitch. And it wouldn’t have been a strike. I think Zack was ready to go. He came to a quick set. The hitter was alert and had his head up. And I think those are the rules.

“I know there’s some gray area there. We’re still trying to figure that out. I think it gets a little dangerous when the pitcher’s ready to fire the baseball, and the hitter is just picking his head up. And I think the hitter, based on the time that I saw — and I could be wrong — I felt like the hitter had a quick second to gather himself and be ready. I thought it was good strategy by Zac.”

Adding to the confusion was that Dreckman never gave a signal putting the ball back in play after Noda had called time. Not every umpire does — it has been this way for decades — but recent events might force the league to require it moving forward.

“Engaged” versus “Ready to Hit”

Athletics manager Mark Kotsay relayed after the game what he saw from the dugout. “Our hitter had looked up. (He was) obviously engaged as far as looking up and making eye contact. But as far as being ready to fire a swing off? He hadn’t had his bat in position. It’s something they’ve looked into, and something that the league has already tried to start enforcing as far as when hitters are engaged versus ready to hit.”

Noda concluded by saying he felt there were no ill intentions on the part of Gallen. “I think it’s just everyone trying to get a new grasp on the rules and trying to get a way around them. That’s happened a couple of times. I know they’re talking about it a lot and trying to make it so pitchers have to break their hands when a hitter calls time. So once they shapen [sic] up the rules and get it all figured out, I think it’s going to be okay. But we’ll see what happens from here on out.”