Manny Machado, star of the San Diego Padres, was the first player in Major League Baseball history to be fined for violating the pitch clock. On Tuesday, he furthered that history.
Machado was ejected from the Padres’ game against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the first inning after he argued with home plate umpire Ron Kulpa about a third strike he was given for a pitch-clock violation. It appears that this is the first player expulsion of the regular season due to a dispute about the pitch clock.
With eight seconds left on the clock, a batter must be in the box and “alert,” according MLB regulations. With two outs and a full count, Kulpa threw a strike as Machado was adjusting his batting gloves and holding his bat under his arm.
Yet Manny Machado seemed to be trying to call a halt to the proceedings.
Manny Machado struck out due to a pitch clock violation, and was subsequently ejected for arguing the decision. pic.twitter.com/8nunHfDY2j
— Bally Sports Arizona (@BALLYSPORTSAZ) April 4, 2023
On Tuesday, Machado’s spot in the Padres’ lineup as the designated hitter was taken by Nelson Cruz. Three innings later, in the fourth, Cruz hit a single home run to give the Padres a 1-0 lead.
Machado’s encounter with the pitch clock during second definitely shouldn’t come as a surprise
After receiving the first fine of the spring, he predicted that he would see a lot of umpire-called strikes this season.
“I’m going to have to make a big adjustment. I might be 0-1 down a lot this year,” he said. “It’s super fast. There’s definitely going to be an adjustment period, but going down in the history books.”
Machado, who signed a $350 million, 11-year agreement before the season, was 5-for-19 with one walk and no extra-base hits on Tuesday.
With 14 breaches on Opening Day and, of course, some much stranger concerns for the Mets, it’s clear that the adjustment to the pitch clock has been an issue early in the season. If it means games may be shortened by 26 minutes, Major League Baseball(MLB) will likely always be prepared to pay that price. Get more news and updates only here at onlinesportsbetting.ph.
