New York Mets starting pitcher Max Scherzer voices EXTREME frustrations with MLB’s pitch clocks

New York Mets superstar pitcher Max Scherzer reiterated his issues with the MLB pitching clock after Thursday’s 4-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

This time, Scherzer’s anger was due to plate umpire Tripp Gibson citing the clock for not allowing the three-time Cy Young winner to complete his normal warm-up routine.

“You’re supposed to get eight warm-up pitches, and I got seven. I asked Tripp if I could have the eighth pitch. Can I do my normal routine to warm up? And he’s like, ‘It’s the clock, it’s the clock,’ Scherzer said.

‘That’s what’s so frustrating. Look, I’m doing my normal routine. Why do we have to go through the game and ask the referees to change their routine when it’s not my fault for what’s happening here?

“I’m talking to Tripp, and he’s sitting here saying there’s nothing he can do about it. If he lets me throw the pitch, MLB gets mad at him.

Scherzer’s anger was due to a referee citing the pitch clock for not allowing his full warm-up

Scherzer then pitched for seven innings and recorded nine strikeouts in New York’s win

Fans generally approved of the clock, which dropped the average time for a nine-inning game from 28 minutes to 2 hours and 37 minutes.

Scherzer would go on to say, “This goes back to, why do we need a step clock for this situation?” If I throw one more pitch, what is it, one second less? Why can’t the umpire have the discretion in this situation to allow a pitcher to throw his regular eighth warm-up pitch?

“Why do we have to be so anal about it to have a clock shoved in everyone’s face to smother every second that passes by the game?”

“It’s situations like that that are really frustrating not just for the pitchers and the players, but even the umpires. Tripp is handcuffed. Why is Tripp handcuffed for not allowing a normal routine? Why can’t Tripp make that call?

On one of the many times he’s spoken out against field clocks since spring training, he even went so far as to say that the clocks should be off if the game is going well.

“Referees want to have that discretion,” he said. “They want to allow the game to be normal. The referees are frustrated like us that the game isn’t normal and we live and die by the clock. We’ve gone way too far thinking of the clock in every situation instead of letting players follow their normal routines.

Scherzer improved to 3-0 in his last four starts, striking out a season-high nine runs while allowing two runs – one earned – and five hits over seven innings. The 39-year-old right-hander is 5-2 with a 3.21 ERA in his second season with the Mets.