Roby's Rampage Continues!
SF Giants April 14, 2022
Johnny Doskow has seen more games than I can imagine. So if Johnny says a play was one of the greatest he’s ever seen, I’m perking up my ears! Check out Bryce Johnson’s flying circus act!
As the River Cats’ social media advises, perhaps it’s best to just stop watching this clip after the first angle! But, to be fair, perhaps I should balance out Johnson’s extraordinarily graceful non-catch with Franklin Labour’s somewhat less aesthetically pleasing actual catch!
There you go. It’s good to keep things in harmony.
Before we go on with last night’s action, today is Friday, which means that a major change is coming to the game. As of tonight, pitch clocks start to be enforced around the minor leagues. That means that any pitchers who have been wantonly ignoring the clock for the first week or so (I’m definitely looking at you, Altoona’s Kyle Nicholas!), consequences are supposedly about to rain down on their heads.
Interestingly, while it’s natural to think of the pitch clock as primarily affecting ….well, pitchers, Dennis Pelfrey pointed out that it’s going to have a significant impact on the processes of hitters as well. Without calling anyone out specifically, he mentioned that the staff had been watching hitters to monitor who was and who wasn’t ready to hit with attention focused on the pitcher at the 9 second mark. For those hitters who haven’t been getting through their “between pitch” process quite quick enough, quiet conversations have been had. This is an organization that believes in attention to the smallest detail, and it won’t be their guys who find themselves unprepared at the 0 mark.
We’ll see how enforcement goes. But in theory, if clocks hit 0 tonight, then automatic balls (for pitcher violations) or strikes (for hitter violations) should ensue. Hopefully, so will some shorter games than the 3.5 hour monsters I’ve been watching in Double A for the last few years.
HITTER of the NIGHT: Sean Roby (Rich) 1 for 2, HR (4), 2 BB, 2 RBI
PITCHER of the NIGHT: Prelander Berroa (Eug), 4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K
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