Athletes do anything they can in terms of scouting to try and gain a competitive advantage on their opponents – and for the Mets’ Mark Canha, one of those things was looking at the scoreboard to see the type and velocity of the previous pitch he just saw.
Unfortunately, in the Mets’ 10-0 loss to Milwaukee Monday, that led Canha to the most ridiculous strikeout of his career: he was called for an automatic strike on a pitch-clock violation, which, as it was a 2-2 count, led to him maybe being the first regular-season batter in this new era of MLB to be called out on strikes without actually fouling off, swinging at, or looking at three actual strikes.
The reason he got the pitch clock violation? The scoreboard never gave him the info he was looking for.
“I saw a pitch and wondered out loud like, ‘what was that,’ so I was looking at the scoreboard waiting for the velocity to show to get an idea of what it could’ve been, and it never did,” Canha said after the game. “I was sitting there waiting, and something else went up on the scoreboard so I stepped in the box, and by the time I did, there was only six seconds left on the clock.”
MLB rules with the new pitch clock say the batter must be in the box and alert to the pitcher by the time there are eight seconds left, and since six is less than eight, Canha got an automatic strike, giving Bryse Wilson a strikeout without having to throw a third strike.
“It was working, but it did take a long time for them to put it up; the pitch would be thrown, and all day today, it took way longer than we’re used to,” Canha said of the scoreboard issues. “I think I even commented because I was frustrated after that, and after me, Luis (Guillorme) walked, and they posted the velocity when he got to first base.”
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This automatic strikeout had happened in Spring Training, where a Red Sox-Braves game was ended in a huge spot, and the reaction was split between vitriol and “batters will have to learn.” The latter, it seems, is where Canha stands, at least in terms of his own proclivities.
“Gotta get in the box and not worry about it,” Canha said. “There’s no way the stadium operations people are going to be linked up with the pitch clock people, so it’s on me. I have to figure out a way to change sometimes, and keep the pitch clock in the forefront.”
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