The Pitch Clock Is 100% Going To Get Someone Murdered This Year

Mike Carlson. Getty Images.

There's a lot going on in the sport this time of year. WBC starts this week. Spring training is actually drumming up sincere interest with the rule changes. College seasons are about to get into conference play and we're just a few weeks out from MLB's opening day. 

In that spirit, so much stuff pops up that I consider Notable In The Aggregate meaning we should round it up. So let's just keep it rolling from Monday's college notebook and give this the old College Try. 

Be nice and I can make this daily. Be mean and I'll shove D2 coverage down your throats and I'm not talking about Wolf The Dentist Stenson. 

Now, a serious starting point: 

1. Real Thoughts and Prayers to Justin Turner

Getting hit sucks. Getting hit in the face is beyond awful. A lot of this is common sense. I just want to start off the blog with a warm embrace for Justin Turner. One of the most regular guys with supremely gifted bat-ball skills. He was an established big leaguer when left New York for Los Angeles. That's when he approached Zack Greinke for advice on how to be a better hitter. He wanted more power. So Greinke watched 1,000 pitches or something insane of that nature, then helped Justin with his adjustments. Up in the box, closer to the plate, cheat outside. It was good enough advice that Turner changed himself into a regular All Star corner infielder. 

2. Chris Sale Is Back

I throw the Red Sox faithful another bone. You got Chris Sale out here healthy and dealing. If he pitches more than 150 innings in a season, he's guaranteed to finish top-5 in Cy Young voting. Go look it up. The only thing stopping him is his own health. 

3. Or The Pitch Clock?

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How many umpires will he murder this season? o/u 1.5 and I mean that sincerely. 

Elsewhere, there's more frustration from hitters as they get adjusted to the new rules. Personally I could care less how uncomfortable it makes these guys feel. Be ready to hit

Even staring at the plate and doing your routine is off limits now. And again, nobody cares. Your routine adds another 6 x 600 = 3600 seconds to the year's gameplay. THATS AN HOUR OF YOU TAPPING HOME PLATE ERIC. We want the action

4. So Give Us The Stolen Bases:

I'll take that trade off all day. Nearly twice as many stolen bases and these games don't even matter to the guys that are stealing them? Go ahead and make that an even 1.3 per game. That's my regular season prediction?

5. But Why Are There More HBP?

I want to thank the guys at Codify for supplying the ammunition for this insight. Thanks fellas. 

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The HBP's are thru the roof because the pitchers have a huge advantage to be aggressive now. All this getting into the box quick and fast will create a short term advantage over the hitters (like Hosmer) who need to tap and touch and settle. Immediately you want to pitch those guys inside. That should be a big emphasis early in the count throughout the year. There's so much more opportunity to "make hitters uncomfortable" early in the count. The fallout from this rule is going to be so much bigger than people realize. 

6. Miguel Cabrera's Kid Doesn't Need Any Time In The Box

I talked about this already today but there's something about paying a ton of money for your kid's travel team only to show up to see how much they suck compared to the gene pool. No amount of hitting lessons and personal bonding can close the gap on bat speed here. Give your kid a computer for his next birthday and pray to god he cracks the next big algorithm. 

7. Castellani Video from TikTok

Speaking of algorithms, Castellani is coming for that ass. He's been firing off toks and arguments and a bunch of good shit the last month and I want to draw attention to it. Smart dude with a big baseball brain and a voice that plays in most continental regions of the United States. A lot of reasons to buy in. My advice is do it now before he blows up and you missed out. 

8. WBC Starts This Week

And we have Vinnie Pasquantino on the vlog/blog for us with Team Italy: 

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Watch at your convenience. I'm not an editor by any means but this has been a fun project to work on. I think he's going to be a monster in the league and that will only make this series funnier over time. "He's got a .950 OPS but his true passion is snacking late night" 

9. ECU Uniform Reveal

This should include some notables from across the baseball world. I don't discriminate against ECU just because I blew a late lead against them in 2010. I actually like their program a lot. I don't think they make their players go to class. Tons of JUCO vibes flowing out of Greenville which is a good thing if you're into fucking around and having a good time with the boys.

10. Thatcher Hurd Doesn't Give A Fuck About Your Friends

Thatcher Hurd transferred to LSU from UCLA this offseason. He's a sophomore. People say he's a slam dunk to go in top 5 of next year's draft. Some small injury concerns with a weird back issue at UCLA but nothing too serious. Most of the injury protocol when you're that good and young is around preventing long-term issues. So unless he's getting operated on, not a big deal. 

LSU picked up 6 different transfers this offseason, all of which were regular starters at major programs. The NIL stuff in college baseball only applies to a few schools and LSU is #1 with a bullet. Good chance that somehow snowballs into a more dominant program. 

11. Sorry About All The LSU Stuff But You Need To Watch Dylan Crews Swing A Bat

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Hurd is probably going top 5 next year. 

Dylan Crews is ABSOLUTELY going #1 this season. 

Nothing like a regular sized dude with a tight mustache and plus plus bat speed mixed with plus plus instincts and character. Dylan Crews is a good name too. I like when LSU turns out prodigies like this. Last one I remember with this much hype was Alex Bregman. 

12. Siena Head Coach Tony Rossi Retires After 54 Years

Full Story out of respect to the late 1960's when he started: 

Siena - Rossi is in the midst of his 54th season as the head coach of the Siena Baseball program, and is the winningest head coach in both Siena and MAAC history with 936 career victories to his name. The longest tenured head coach in NCAA Division I Baseball history, and the longest active tenured college baseball coach at any level, Rossi is tied for second all-time in NCAA Baseball history in seasons coached along with former Division II Bentley Head Coach Bob DeFelice, who retired last spring. Former Division III coach Gordie Gillespie (59 seasons) is the only head baseball coach at any NCAA level to have ever coached longer than Rossi 

Does Clem know this guy? I feel like 54 years on campus makes you legend anywhere. Could be the badminton volunteer assistant and you still get a hat tip from me. 

Congrats to Coach Rossi on a remarkable tenure. Hopefully the boys clean it up over the next couple weeks and send you off on a high note. 

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