Russell Martin Had An Interesting Take On The Intentional Walk Rule Change
If you haven’t already heard, the MLB approved a rule change that eliminates the act of having to throw four pitches outside of the strike zone in order to intentionally walk a batter. Now, a signal will be given, and the batter will automatically take first base. To sum up my take, if the pace of play problem is a burning building, eliminating four pitches for an intentional walks is throwing a cup of water at the building. Here’s how Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin feels about the new rule change.
“By no means are intentional walks automatic, until now. Now they are. So they’re speeding up the game,” said Martin. “My thing is, if they really want to speed up the game, then when a guy hits a home run, to speed up the game should a guy, just like in softball, when he hits it, should he just walk to the dugout? It’d be quicker. I’m just wondering, at what point do we just keep the game, the game? Or, how about this calculation: take all the intentional walks that were made in the last couple years and calculate – or maybe just ask to see if they have that information, to see if they really did their homework. Is it really that important to speed up the game (with this rule)? Because how many games did we play last year where we didn’t have one intentional walk? That’s something I’d like to know.”
I mean, he’s got a solid point, right? My main beef with the new intentional walk rule is basically Martin’s first line — they’re not automatic. They’re supposed to be, but they’re not. Shit happens. Pitchers over-throw or under-throw intentional walk pitches all the time. It’s part of the game, being able to complete an intentional walk without fucking up. It’s also an added benefit to the team that you’re giving a free pass to. They have a hitter that’s so intimidating that you don’t want to face him, but now they’ve also gained the opportunity to advance base runners because you might fire one to the backstop by an accident, or unintentionally leave one out over the plate.
And I know he’s going to the extreme to make a point, but it’s a good point. Why not just make hitters walk back to the dugout after a home run? What’s the point of running the bases when we already know that it’s a home run the second that the ball clears the fence?
DONALDSON SWINGS AND HITS ONE DEEP!! BACK IT GOES!! IT’S GONE!! AND HE’S SPRINTING BACK TO THE DUGOUT!! WHAT A MOMENT HERE, FOLKS!!
Think about it — the time that a batter spends rounding the bases after a home run has to be somewhat similar to the time it takes to intentionally walk a batter. But I’m obviously not advocating for the league to eliminate running the bases after a home run. That’s fucking stupid. But it enforces Martin’s point that some things, although they would theoretically save time, just need to be left alone. Even more so in the case of the intentional walk, because, like he said, game-altering shit can actually happen when a team attempts an intentional walk.