For those concerned that the pitch clock is so prominent in the background of at-bats during spring-training games: The plan in big league ballparks is for it to be out of view of the center-field camera. In other words: TV viewers will not see the physical clock during pitches.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 25, 2023

I imagine we will see it added to the score bugs on tv broadcasts

EastCoastAgNc said:

---

Bligh Madris (pronounced bly mah-DRISS) is a 27-year-old from Las Vegas. He hits left and throws right. Astros acquired him from Detroit on Jan 3. Made MLB debut last year with PIT and hit .177 in 39 games.

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) February 25, 2023

---

Sounds like either a dread pirate or a bougie patchwork shirt.

Tie game. Ninth inning. Bases loaded. Full count.

Game ends on a clock violation by the hitter pic.twitter.com/h9PgMzB516

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) February 25, 2023

I hate this so much

I prefer to be able to see the clock. Not seeing it doesn't help me believe that it's not a part of the game

I find it interesting that so few here were against the shift but so many against the clock.

$10 says they ditch this fast. Imagine a playoff game ending on a clock violation.

Mathguy64 said:

---

$10 says they ditch this fast. Imagine a playoff game ending on a clock violation.

---

They should just change it to a game can't end on a clock violation

OKCAg2002 said:

---

Hopefully they have some common sense in the regular season and dot call that.

---

Why? It's a rule whether it happens in the 1st or 9th.

They don't like it maybe they shouldn't have implemented this crap.

wangus12 said:

---

bearkatag15 said:

---

Tie game. Ninth inning. Bases loaded. Full count.

Game ends on a clock violation by the hitter pic.twitter.com/h9PgMzB516

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) February 25, 2023

I hate this so much

---

Refs/Umps taking over outcomes of games will never not happen

---

This isn't them "taking over outcomes", this is them calling the rules.... you complaint would be like them NOT calling an out at first with 2 outs in the 9th, because it would end the game and determine the outcome....

I think there should be no automatic strikes ... pitcher should just be able to start the pitch at 8 or under even if the batter is not looking at them or ready

What I don't like is that it's a "pitch clock" not a batter clock

If the batter isn't ready that's should be on them not an automatic strike. If he's out of the box let the pitcher throw it once it hits 8 seconds.

Both of the Astros' middle infielders were pretty damn close to having their heels on the grass against lefhanded hitters today. Didn't see any of them get warned, but that will be interesting to monitor for a team that's going to try to maneuver as much as possible. https://t.co/kqwU5LP6uI

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) February 25, 2023

The nitpicking of these new rules is bringing the "umm actually" to baseball. I hate Rob Manfred

I see a little Mike Lamb in Dirden

35 days until opening day leads us to a bittersweet entry at #35. Justin Verlander, we hardly knew ye.




Wearing #35 from 2017-2022, Verlander put together the greatest 5-year stretch by a pitcher in Astros' history. There's no other way to look at it. He went 61-19 as an Astro with a 2.26 ERA, a no-hitter, 2 Cy Young awards, 2 World Series title, and an ALCS MVP.

We all know the story of the last-second deal to get JV in August 2017. The Astros were 80-53 when he was acquired. They went 21-8 down the stretch. And that trade to date has been one of the most lopsided in MLB history. Franklin Perez is 25 and yet to make it to the majors, Daz Cameron is 26 and has played in 73 MLB games with a .201 career batting average, and Jake Rogers is 27 and has also played just 73 games with a .182 career average.
i
JV was 10-8 with a 3.82 ERA when the Astros traded for him. His first start with the Astros was at Seattle on September 5 when he went 6 innings, allowed 1 run, and struck out 7. His second start, against the Angels, saw him throw 8 innings of 1-hit shutout ball with 9 strikeouts. Over his final three starts of the year, he was 3-0, pitched 20 innings, allowed 3 runs, and struck out 27 batters.

In the ALDS vs. Boston, he started Game 1 and got the win, allowing 2 earned runs in 6 innings, then beat the Red Sox in relief in Game 4, a 5-4 Astros win. He was even better against the Yankees, pitching a complete game 5 hitter in Game 2 with 13 strikeouts, and 7 scoreless innings in Game 6 with 8 strikeouts. He was named ALCS MVP for his troubles.

In the WS win over LA, he was 0-1, allowing 5 earned runs in 12 innings and striking out 9. Pitching great in the WS was his Achilles' Heel until 2022, but getting his team to the Big Show was never a problem.

He followed 2017 up with a 16-9 2018 with 290 strikeouts and a 2.52 ERA. In 2019, he won the Cy Young over Gerrit Cole with a 21-6 record, a 2.58 ERA, and 300 strikeouts in 223 innings. He got hurt in his only start of 2020, missed all of 2021, and then was so incredibly fantastic in 2022 you couldn't believe what you were seeing at times: 18-4 with a 1.75 ERA. Not including the 1981 strike season, that ERA is the 10th lowest since divisional play started in 1969.

JV also gave us the gift that keeps on giving. The hottest WAG of all time in Houston sports history.




Before there was JV, there was Joe Sambito, who wore the # from 1976-1984 and was the Astros' first really great closer.



An Astro draft pick in 1973, he was a closer throughout his career, piling up 33 wins, 72 saves, and a 2.42 ERA in 8 years with the team. He also had a hilarious .286/.583/.429 slash line at the plate in 1979 when he went 2 for 7 and somehow drew 5 walks.

He was an all-star in 1979 when he went 8-7 with a 1.77 ERA and 22 saves, striking out 83 batters in 91 innings. He pitched 2/3 of an inning at the All-Star game, getting a ground out from Reggie Jackson and a fly ball from George Brett.

In 1980 as the Astros won their first division title, he was 8-4 with a 2.19 ERA and 17 saves, finishing 5th in the Cy Young race. Teammate Joe Niekro finished 4th.

He tore ligaments in his pitching elbow in 1982, missing that season and 1983 before throwing 32 games in 1934 with a 3.02 ERA as a middle reliever. Dave Smith had taken over the closer role and Sambito was released in April 1985. He played a few months with the Mets, then was cut again. He wound up with the Red Sox in 1986 and made the World Series, but struggled in Game 7, giving up 2 runs.

The number was later worn by Aurelio "Senor Smoke" Lopez, and flash in the pan John Hudek, who was an all-star and finished second for Rookie of the Year in 1994 with 16 saves and a 2.97 ERA as the team's closer, and then was not so great anymore after that.

Deluxe said:

---

I see a little Mike Lamb in Dirden

---

excellent and obscure comp.

AggieJ2002 said:

---

I think there should be no automatic strikes ... pitcher should just be able to start the pitch at 8 or under even if the batter is not looking at them or ready

---

This is awesome. Yes.

The pitch clock and shift rules shouldn't even be in effect. Just like the ghost runner stuff. The fact Manfred has the power to unilaterally institute whatever idiotic ideas he comes up with is criminal. He's ruining the game.