“How do you pitch clock without a pitchcomb?”.

Choi Won-ho, manager of the Hanwha Eagles, strongly questioned the pitch clock, which is being piloted without a pitch-com. The Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) is piloting PitchClock starting with the 2024 exhibition games. It was introduced to make the game faster and more exciting by reducing unnecessary time for pitchers to pitch, batters to prepare to hit, and inning changes.

The pitcher’s pitching time is the most representative of these. Pitchers have 23 seconds to complete a pitch with a runner on base and 18 seconds without a runner on base. The batter must be ready to bat at the 8-second mark. Currently, the umpire gives a first warning if the time is exceeded. After the first warning, the pitcher is penalized with one ball and the batter is penalized with one strike.

The KBO League will first try it out in the first half of the season and decide whether or not to make it official in the second half based on the results. However, there are mixed opinions about the new rule. Basically, the proponents are in favor of it to speed up the game. However, it is also pointed out that it needs to be improved to prevent confusion and is premature. In particular, there are those who believe that the PitchClock trial is pointless without PitchCom.

Pitchcoms are transmitters and receivers that send and receive autographs between catchers, pitchers, and fielders.

It was developed by Major League Baseball to prevent autograph theft and was introduced in 2022. In addition to preventing photo theft, it has various time-saving effects, 스포츠토토 so the KBO League is also promoting the introduction of PitchCom for pitch clock. There is no domestic product, so it has to be introduced from the United States. It will take more than two months to get a transmission license.

Hanwha manager Choi Won-ho said before the exhibition game against the KIA Tigers on the 11th, “We are currently piloting PitchClock without a pitchcom. There are doubts about whether it’s right to operate it when we don’t have all the equipment. You’re about to pitch and the umpire suddenly comes out and makes a gesture that says, ‘Time out, one ball. It’s kind of an inadvertent operator timeout,” he said.

“Ryu is the only player on our team who has experience with PitchCom. He says it’s really fast and easy. He can type in his autograph and be done in no time. He said he doesn’t know how he could pitch without it.” It was pointed out that they should have a trial run with a fully equipped PitchCom.

Choi concluded, “First, we need to prepare and implement PitchCom. And it’s not bad to try it for a year in the second team to improve and start. ABS (robotic ball umpiring) has been in the second team for four to five years, so it’s natural to do it. Right now, we are starting without preparation. Some people say that if we introduce pitch-com, the frequency might not be right,” he said, arguing that it is premature.