Most of Mike Rizzo’s first 2023 appearance on The Sports Junkies was about the Nationals’ young pitching and Shohei Ohtani, but the guys did have to ask him about some of the new rule changes in Major League Baseball.
Suffice to say, he’s in favor of the two biggest ones, more so the pitch clock.
“I love the pitch clock. I thought I would going into this, because the minor-league games I’ve seen the last couple years, they were just so fluid and fast and the pace was great,” Rizzo said. “I thought we’d have a lot of hiccups at the beginning, but we’ve had way less situations than I thought. I like the pace of the play, and I think it translates into better defense and pitchers throwing more strikes.”
For Rizzo, time of game going down is a byproduct of the clock, but it’s more about better pace.
“It’s not so much the game is shorter, it’s that it moves better and the pace is greater,” he said. “Big thumbs up to MLB for implementing it, and for the players for adapting and making it work.”
If anything in the early going, he’s heard that the clock is well-liked, but more of an adjustment for hitters than pitchers so far.
“I haven’t heard any negatives, but have heard a lot of positives – and the early take for me is that it’s a little more of an adjustment for hitters,” Rizzo said. “I thought it’d be the other way around, but the rhythm of the game is fully dictated by the pitcher now, and the batter has to adjust to that clock. But guys are getting it, and I think they’re appreciating it.”
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And, even though it hasn’t raised batting averages league-wide as much as many expected, Rizzo is also a fan of the shift ban as well.
“I like that rule too, and that surprised me. I was kind of a traditionalist and didn’t want to put a rule in like that to change the game, but I think it works out great,” Rizzo said. “There’s nothing worse than hitting a bullet to right field and having the second baseman out there to catch it. It’s a purer game without he shift, and I like that guys are getting some ground ball hits through the infield now.”
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