CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Faster games have been the top byproduct of the newly instituted pitch clock that has everyone’s attention.
For Guardians pitching coach Carl Willis, he believes it might have leveled the playing field between pitchers and the prodigious lineups that used to strike fear into them.
“I do believe if the pitchers can adapt, it's almost more difficult on the hitting side of the thing,” Willis said prior to Wednesday’s series finale with the New York Yankees. “I look at the Yankees and for all the years, and you can go way back, I mean they were never in a big hurry to get in the box. They're always trying to intimidate you somewhat.
“They lose that ability now.”
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The gamesmanship between pitchers and hitters has been eliminated with the clock, and from Willis’ perspective, the advantage now goes to the pitchers.
“I think a lot of hitters very cerebral and they're able to put the at bat together in the sequences and they don't have quite the time maybe to think about, okay, what's he going to throw next,” Willis said.
Willis admitted he was nervous about the rule changes going into the season but that has subsided now that the season is a week and a half old.
“At the outset of spring training I was really stressed about it. I think as the games have progressed, we’ve paid less attention to it – and I'm talking about the staff. Obviously when the pitcher's on the mound, when hitters in the box, they have to obviously always be aware of where that clock is. I think we've kind of settled in with it.”
Willis isn’t complaining about the faster games either which have seen the Guardians play nine innings in under 2:40.
“I have to say, it's nice to, when you beat the Yankees 3-2 and it's 8:40, you get to go home and enjoy it for an extra hour and when you're on the other end of it, it gets over with in a hurry and you go and forget it,” Willis said.