Wild Things are on the clock
The Wild Things, and the rest of the Frontier League, will be on the clock this season.
The Frontier League has adopted two of Major League Baseball’s new rules, including the use of a pitch clock, in an attempt to speed up the pace of play and shorten game times.
The use of a pitch clock had been implemented in the affiliated minor leagues last year and shortened games by an average of 26 minutes. Major League Baseball went with the pitch clock this year, and through the first month of the season game times were down by 28 minutes.
The average time of a Frontier League game was 3:00 in 2021 and 3:08 last summer. That’s an increase of about 10 minutes per game from 2018.
“The League Directors are committed to offering the best possible entertainment to Frontier League fans, and we believe the addition of a pitch clock will help achieve this goal,” Frontier League president Eric Krupa said in a new release. “These changes will increase the pace of Frontier League games and provide our fans a more enjoyable experience when they come out to our ballparks.”
The pitch clock rules will be the same as in the major leagues. Pitchers will have 15 seconds between pitches when there are no runners on base. If there are runners on base, they will have 20 seconds to deliver the ball to home plate. Batters must be in the box and ready to hit at the 8-second mark. Violation of these time parameters can result in a called strike or ball depending on the offender.
Back in November, the Frontier League announced it would use a pitch clock with 14- and 18-second limits but has since decided to use the same timing standards as the major leagues.
At Wild Things Park, three pitch clocks have been installed – adjacent to each dugout on the home-plate end along with one on the outfield wall.
The other new rule for the Frontier League limits the number of disengagements (pickoff attempts, stepping off the rubber, etc.) a pitcher can make per at-bat. When a runner is on base, the pitcher is allowed two disengagements.
“I’m not a fan of the disengagement rule,” said Tom Vaeth, who is in his third season as the Wild Things’ manager. “As for the pitch clock, the baseball purist in me doesn’t like it, but I understand why they’re doing it.”
For pitch clock violations, there will be a grace period at start the Frontier League season, with warnings issued but no penalties enforced. The automatic ball or strike will be fully enforced beginning with games May 30. The regular season begins May 11.
Vaeth said he already had his team use the clock during an intrasquad game and there was only one clock violation.
“I don’t see hitters having an issue with it,” Vaeth said. “I do think some pitchers will have to get used to it, but I don’t think there will be a problem with it as a whole.
“The problem I have with the rule is the college guys, with no pro experience, have never played games with the rule, but the league wanted to stick with the same rule as the big leagues.”
Because of the disengagement limitations for pitchers, and the implementation of larger bases – something the Frontier League did not adopt – stolen bases are up 40 percent in the major leagues. Vaeth said he expects stolen bases to be on the rise in the Frontier League. Last year, there was an average of 5.3 stolen bases per game.
“I’d be shocked if that’s not the case,” Vaeth said. “If you’re not already trying to take advantage of that rule (disengagement limits), then you’re already behind.
“These rules were made for the big-league level because they wanted more action and wanted the running game back in the major leagues. That’s not the problem or issue here.”
The Wild Things will get their first look at the new rules tonight when they play an exhibition game at Florence. Washington and Florence will play again Wednesday (7:05 p.m.) at Wild Things Park. There will be free admission to the Wednesday game.