College baseball was starting to become an uncontrollable beast.
Four-hour games, 10-run innings were becoming the norm, small ball was becoming a lost art, and the long cat-and-mouse games between pitchers and batters were becoming downright annoying.
It just wasn’t good for the game, so the NCAA decided to step in during the offseason, voting to implement rules that address the pace and play of the game. The sole purpose was to speed the game up.
Three major changes were implemented in the offseason that could make a very large impact at Cliff Hagan Stadium this season. Let’s take a look at each three and how big of an impact they could make on the 2011 Kentucky baseball season:
1. Rule change – NCAA-certified bats: The NCAA has implemented a new testing method to make its aluminum bats perform more like wood than they did under the previous testing method, which measured the ball’s speed off the bat. The new BBCOR testing – which stands for batted ball coefficient of resolution – measures how lively the collision is between the bat and ball.
In layman’s terms: The NCAA is reducing the power of college baseball bats. Hitting home runs will be a lot tougher, requiring hitters to hit make solid contact and hit the sweet spot to launch the ball out of the yard. After an offensive outburst across the sport last year, especially in the Southeastern Conference, home runs are expected to be few and far between moving forward.
What UK is saying: “I think some of the complaining from some of the coaches in our league is a little bit overblown,” UK head coach Gary Henderson said. “You can still hit a home run, but you’ve got to hit it. You can’t cap it, you can’t get jammed, you can’t be out front. You’ve got to hit it on the sweet spot. It’s got to be a good, balanced stroke, and if you do, the ball leaves the yard. We’ve seen some of that. We haven’t seen a lot of it, but we’ve seen some of it with our kids.
“Some of the bats don’t really have that same ‘ping’ like they did last year,” senior shortstop Taylor Black said. “To get a read, it’s going to be hard defensively. The ball is definitely not coming off near as fast. You’ll see balls that look like they’re going to go way out and they won’t even make it to the warning track. It’s going to play a big deal.”
“It doesn’t bother me,” junior pitcher/infielder Braden Kapteyn said. “Obviously as a pitcher I like it. There are a little less cheap hits.”
“I think it’s going to separate the average hitters from the true hitters,” Kapteyn said.
Impact on UK: High. The change in the bats could seriously alter the game of college baseball as it is, but it’s expected to have an even bigger impact on the UK baseball team. On a team dominated by starting pitching and ripe with 18 newcomers, pitching and low-scoring games will be the key to this year’s success. Cliff Hagan Stadium has always been known as a hitter’s ballpark, but the new bats could alter that reputation. UK, for one, is hoping it does.
2.) Rule change – 20-second pitch clock: The 20-second time limit (or clock) starts when the pitcher receives the ball on the mound and stops when the pitcher begins his pitching motion. The time limit is used only when the bases are unoccupied. If a pitcher violates the 20-second rule he shall be warned by the umpire. After a pitcher is warned, if he continues to violate the rule a ball will be awarded for each violation. There is one warning per pitcher.
In layman’s terms: The days of deliberate pitchers are over. No longer will a pitcher be able to take as much time as he wants in between pitches. When there are no runners on base, the goal will be to get the ball back in the pitcher’s glove, go through the signs and make the next pitch. A pitch clock, which will be operated by the home team’s athletics staff, will be visible for umpires, players and fans to see. The pitch clock will be on the scoreboard at Cliff Hagan Stadium.
What UK is saying: “I think the 20 second pitch clock will be almost a complete non issue,” Henderson said. “I don’t foresee it being an issue unless somebody has got to tie their shoe and you’ve got an umpire that isn’t paying attention or doesn’t have common sense or whatever it is, but I think that the 20 seconds is going to be a non issue.”
“The game calling won’t be affected,” Henderson said. “That part, I think, that shouldn’t get in the way, that piece of it. I think it does a couple things for you. It puts the runs at a premium. And again, I don’t have a crystal ball, I can’t predict what it’s going to look like, but certainly the feel is it’s going to be much, much tougher to go get a five spot when you’ve just given up some. I think you’ve got to be able to throw strikes, you’ve got to absolutely do whatever you can to keep the freebies to a minimum.”
Impact on UK: Moderate. In terms of the actual effect of how UK plays the game, it should have a minimal impact. It may put some slight stress on how quickly signs must go from the dugout to the catcher to the pitcher, but 20 seconds is generally plenty of time. The clock should have a much longer impact from a fan’s perspective. Games will be much shorter and move with a lot more pace, making it much more fan friendly. The pitch clock significantly reduced game times at last year’s SEC Tournament.
2.) Rule change – 90-108-second time limit (or clock): The time (clock) starts with the last out in the inning and stops when the pitcher begins his windup for the first pitch to the first batter of the inning. If the offensive team is not ready within the 90second or 108-second time limit, the umpire shall call a strike. If the defense is not read, a ball shall be awarded to the batter. For non-televised games, teams have 90 seconds to be ready to pitch and have a batter ready to step into the batter’s box after the end of each half inning. For non-televised games, teams have 90 seconds to be ready.
In layman’s terms: The time between innings is going to reduce as umpires make a conscientious effort to move the game from one inning to the other. Pitchers will still have time to throw warm-up pitches, fielders will still be able to take infield and hitters will still be able to take a few practice hacks, but they’ll have to move quickly from the dugout to the field in order to do so.
What UK is saying: “If your catcher just flew out and he’s rounding second or getting to second base on a fly out or he was at second as a runner, I think you have a shot, if you’re not paying attention, to be challenged between innings,” Henderson said.
“I think the time between innings is going to be the biggest thing with the catchers,” Black said. “If they’re on base and they have to run in and get dressed real quick and run out there, I don’t know if that’s going to affect the catcher being tired throughout the game. I feel like that’s the biggest part is just getting the catcher back out there.”
Impact on UK: Medium. Of all the rule changes, this rule seemed to concern the Cats the most. Henderson sounded fairly concerned with the disadvantage it could place on catchers. Much like the pitch clock, it should improve games at Cliff Hagan from a fan’s perspective as games will move with more pace.
