Cubs’ Stroman called for first pitch clock violation
CHICAGO — Cubs starter Marcus Stroman was called for a pitch clock violation during the third inning of Chicago’s season-opening 4-0 win over Milwaukee on Thursday, making him the first player to be penalized under the new rule during a regular-season game.
Stroman took his place in baseball’s history book for this oddity when he took too long to deliver a 1-2 pitch to the Brewers’ Christian Yelich. Stroman was checking on the Brewers’ Brice Turang, who was on second base, and the clock expired just before Stroman delivered a pitch from the stretch.
“It’s tough, man,” Stroman said. “It’s tough, this pitch clock. It’s a big adjustment. I don’t think people really realize it. It just adds a whole other layer of thinking.”
Joining Stroman in the history book will be home plate umpire Ron Kulpa, who emphatically pointed to the pitch clock and shouted out the violation. Yelich took advantage of the free ball two pitches later by drawing a walk. The Brewers did not score in the inning.
Under the new rules, pitchers have 15 seconds to deliver a pitch with the bases empty and 20 seconds if a runner is on base. The penalty for a pitcher running out of time is an automatic ball.
While the majority of big league pitchers were able to get mostly acclimated to the new clock during spring training, Stroman had a limited opportunity to do so because of his participation in the World Baseball Classic, pitching for Puerto Rico.
Tasked with making his first Opening Day start as a member of the Cubs, Stroman had plenty on his plate without the new rules. A routine-oriented pitcher who mixes up his pace depending on the game situation, Stroman says the pitch clock is a complicating factor for sure and one that might throw some pitchers off.
“I do feel super rushed at times,” Stroman said. “Even between innings. I’m running out there very early to warm up in between. A foul comes up and you don’t even have time to rub the [new] ball up.
“And I’m a big breather. Sometimes I’m not able to catch my breath and find my proper breathing that I do before pre-pitch. It’s definitely been a dynamic that’s going to be tough on some guys.”
Stroman recovered from the penalty just fine, earning the win over the Brewers and ace righty Corbin Burnes. Stroman threw six shutout innings in one of his better outings since joining Chicago as a free agent before the 2022 season.
It was a memorable day, given the pomp of a Wrigley Field opener, but because of the historic nature of that first pitch clock faux pas, it’s an outing that will be immortalized in the collection of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, which will seek a relic from the game to mark the occasion.
That means Stroman is headed for the Hall of Fame, albeit for a reason that he didn’t exactly dream about. Still, that’s not what he is most going to remember from the festive, chilly afternoon at the Friendly Confines.
“These are the moments it’s so hard to replicate,” Stroman said. “So I’m very grateful and thankful to have been in this moment, to have the opening day start and to go out there and get the win in front of the incredible home crowd. I’m just excited and happy to be here.”
In another first on Opening Day, Boston Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers made history by becoming the first player to strike out on a pitch clock violation. Leading off the 8th inning with Boston down 10-4, Devers was looking down and kicking his cleats when umpire Lance Barksdale called the violation.
The violation happened with a runner in scoring position, and with Boston coming back in the ninth inning to bring the score within a run, 10-9, the strikeout could have affected the game’s outcome.
“There’s no excuses,” Cora said. “They know the rules. We know the rules.”
J.D. Davis of the San Francisco Giants became the first hitter called for a pitch clock violation in the ninth inning of a game at Yankee Stadium. Davis took too long getting into the box to begin an at-bat against Ron Marinaccio, prompting plate ump Laz Diaz to penalize him with an automatic strike. Davis went on to strike out.
A few minutes later, Atlanta Braves reliever Collin McHugh put his arms out wide after being called for a violation by umpire Dan Bellino in the eighth inning against the Washington Nationals. That put batter Jeimer Candelario ahead 1-0, and McHugh followed up with three more balls — a three-pitch walk, essentially.
“I didn’t even realize it happened, quite honestly,” Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. “It’s going to happen.”
New York Mets All-Star Jeff McNeil was angered by a violation called by plate umpire Larry Vanover in the sixth inning against the Miami Marlins. McNeil was waiting for baserunner Pete Alonso to retreat to first after a foul ball when Vanover dinged him for an automatic strike. That prompted an argument with McNeil and Mets manager Buck Showalter, who seemed irritated the pitch clock began before Alonso returned to first.
It worked out for McNeil — he grounded an RBI single a few pitches later.
–ESPN’s Joon Lee and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
ARLINGTON, Texas — Boston Red Sox designated hitter Rafael Devers became the first major leaguer to strike out 12 times in a season’s first four games.
Devers went 0-for-4 with two more strikeouts Sunday in Boston’s 3-2 loss to the Texas Rangers.
Devers’ latest mark for futility came a day after he became the first big leaguer to be fanned 10 times in the first three games of a season.
He’s 0-for-16, though he did draw a two-out walk in the ninth Sunday to keep the inning alive and put the potential tying run in scoring position.
The 12 strikeouts broke the previous record of 11 in the first four games, which had been done four times previously since 1901, according to SportRadar.
Brent Rooker of the Athletics struck out 11 times to open last season. The others were Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña Jr. in 2020, Minnesota’s Byron Buxton in 2017 and Houston’s Brett Wallace in 2013.
Devers is now solely the Red Sox DH after their offseason acquisition of third baseman Alex Bregman.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The two teams suing NASCAR over antitrust allegations said Wednesday in a filing that a countersuit against 23XI Racing, Front Row Motorsports and Michael Jordan’s manager is “an act of desperation” and asked that it be dismissed.
NASCAR’s countersuit contends that Jordan business manager Curtis Polk “willfully” violated antitrust laws by orchestrating anticompetitive collective conduct in connection with the most recent charter agreements.
23XI and Front Row were the only two organizations out of 15 that refused to sign the new agreements, which were presented to the teams last September in a take-it-or-leave-it offer 48 hours before the start of NASCAR’s playoffs.
The charters were fought for by the teams ahead of the 2016 season and twice have been extended. The latest extension is for seven years to match the current media rights deal and guarantee 36 of the 40 spots in each week’s field to the teams that hold the charters, as well as other financial incentives. 23XI — co-owned by Jordan — and Front Row refused to sign and sued, alleging NASCAR and the France family that owns the stock car series are a monopoly.
Wednesday’s filing claims that NASCAR’s counterclaim is “retaliatory” and “does not allege the facts necessary to state a claim.”
“NASCAR is using the counterclaim to engage in litigation gamesmanship, with the transparent objective of intimidating the other racing teams by threatening them with severe consequences if they support Plaintiffs’ challenge to the unlawful NASCAR monopoly,” the response says.
23XI and Front Row have requested NASCAR’s counterclaim be dismissed because it “fails at the threshold because it does not allege facts plausibly showing a contract, combination or conspiracy in restraint of trade.
“The counterclaim allegations instead show each racing team individually determining whether or not to agree to NASCAR’s demands through individual negotiations — the opposite of a conspiracy.”
The filing also defends Polk, who was specifically targeted in NASCAR’s counterclaim as the mastermind of the contentious two-year battle between the teams and the stock car series. NASCAR claimed in its countersuit that Polk threatened a team boycott of Daytona 500 qualifying races, but the teams argued Wednesday “there is no allegation that such a threatened boycott of qualifying races ever took place.”
“None of NASCAR’s factual claims fit into the very narrow categories of blatantly anti-competitive agreements that courts summarily condemn as per se unlawful,” the teams said.
Jordan, through a spokesperson, sent word to The Associated Press that Polk speaks for him and the NBA icon views any attack on Polk as “personal.”
NASCAR’s attorney has warned that a consequence of the 23XI and Front Row lawsuit could lead to the abolishment of the charter system outright — NASCAR argues it would be a consequence and not what NASCAR actually wants to do — and that 23XI first made this personal by naming NASCAR chairman Jim France in the original antitrust lawsuit.
The teams struck back at the threat to eliminate the charter system in Wednesday’s filing. It alleges it is an empty threat meant to scare the 13 organizations that did sign the charter agreements.
The claim also says Front Row should be dismissed from NASCAR’s countersuit because “NASCAR does not allege any specific conduct by Front Row or its owners or employees to support a claim that it participated in the alleged conspiracy.”
“The other allegations in the counterclaim against Front Row are all entirely conclusory or improper group pleading that seeks to lump in Front Row with 23XI Racing, Mr. Polk, and “others,” while never identifying what — if anything — Front Row Motorsports itself has done to purportedly participate in the alleged conspiracy.”
There is no deadline for a judge’s decision.
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