San Diego Padres superstar Manny Machado was ejected for violating MLB’s new pitch clock rules. Machado wasn’t thrilled, and was subsequently ejected.
Manny Machado made the wrong kind of MLB history on Tuesday, as he became the first player to be ejected for arguing a pitch clock violation.
The new MLB rules require hitters to be back in the batters’ box by the eight-second mark, which the umpire deemed Machado did not abide by. Because he was late to the box, an automatic strike was called against the Padres star, thus ending his AB in a strikeout.
He wasn’t happy with that result, and cue the fireworks.
Was Manny Machado screwed over with pitch clock violation?
Home plate umpire Ron Kulpa did not grant Machado a timeout, which he tried to call prior to stepping back into the box. Zac Gallen won this round, however, as the pitcher dictated the speed of the game.
Machado had every right to call timeout, but for some reason it was not granted by Kulpa. Pads manager Bob Melvin came to the defense of his player, but he too was ignored.
It’s important to note that while pitchers, catchers and batters are adjusting to the new rules, so are umpires. Kulpa’s err in judgement, if I may call it that, cost Machado the rest of the game. That’s the issue here.
Melvin did his best to cool down the fiery Machado before it was too late. Kulpa’s quick hook is a problem, especially when a simple explanation of the rules may have at least provided Machado some sort of reasoning as to why he was called out.
If we’re going to hold players accountable to follow a new subset of rules they aren’t used to, umpires must have a bit of patience. If not, Machado’s freak-out won’t be the last.