TROY — The new clock on the center field fence was ticking down behind him, but Tri-City ValleyCats pitcher Garrison Bryant didn’t feel rushed during Monday’s controlled scrimmage against the Empire State Greys at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium.
First, it was just a test of the independent Frontier League’s new pace-of-play rules. They weren’t being enforced. There weren’t even any umpires.
Secondly, Bryant likes the rules that are intended to speed up games. He’s used to them because he pitched in the New York Mets’ system (reaching Double-A Binghamton) in the affiliated minor leagues, which already had a pitch clock. Major League Baseball adopted it this season.
“I like it a lot, actually,” Bryant said. “Pace of play. I work quick as it is, so it kind of works to my advantage. I like to work nice and quick, so it prevents the hitters from slowing the game down, prevents the hitters from getting you out of your rhythm.”
The ValleyCats open their regular season at 6:30 p.m. Friday against the Trois-Rivieres Aigles at Bruno Stadium.
Just like MLB, the pitch clock will be set at 15 seconds when the bases are empty and 20 seconds with runners on base. A ball will be called if a pitcher hasn’t delivered when the clock expires. The batter must be in the batter’s box and “alert to the pitcher” by the eight-second mark or a strike will be called.
There will also be a 2-minute, 15-second limit between innings, and pitchers must finish their warmup tosses by the 30-second mark or be called for a ball.
The Frontier League is giving players a two-week grace period, so while the umpires will call pitch-clock infractions, they won’t be enforced until around June 1, ValleyCats general manager Matt Callahan said.
Callahan said ValleyCats games lasted an average of three hours to 3:10 last season, which…
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