Mets’ Max Scherzer annoyed with rigid in-between innings pitch clock: ‘Why do we have to be so anal?’

New York Mets pitcher Max Scherzer would like a little flexibility when it comes to enforcing MLB’s pitch clock in-between innings. 

During New York’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday, Scherzer was not allowed to throw his eighth and final warmup pitch before the fifth inning due to the two-minute, 15-second clock running out. 

Scherzer’s warmup pitches were delayed after catcher Francisco Álvarez made the last out of the fourth inning. 

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“Why do we need a pitch clock for that situation?” Scherzer asked reporters after the game. “If I throw one more pitch, I’m one second slower? Why can’t the umpire have discretion in that situation to allow a pitcher to throw his eight normal warmup pitches?

Scherzer said home plate umpire Tripp Gibson expressed to him that Major League Baseball would get “mad at him” if he allowed Scherzer to throw another warmup. 

“Why do we have to be so anal about this, to have the clock up everybody’s face, shoved in everybody’s face, and try to step out every little single second that’s going through the game?” Scherzer continued. “It’s situations like that that really are frustrating for not only for pitchers, players, but even the umpires. And that’s what Tripp says. Tripp’s handcuffed. Why is Tripp handcuffed to not allow something normal, a normal routine? Just a normal routine. Why can’t Tripp make that call?

“He said thank you for speaking out for the umpires because the umpires want to have that discretion. They want to allow the game to be normal. But the umpires are frustrated, as we are, that the game’s not normal, that we’re just living and dying by the clock. And so that was our conversation. I said, look, I’ll speak for you. We’re way too far thinking about the clock in every single situation instead of letting players have their normal routines.”

MLB has implemented a pitch clock for the 2023 season, with a 30-second timer in between batters, a 15-second timer with the bases empty, and a 20-second timer with runners on base. Pitchers who violate the timer are assessed an automatic ball.

Hitters are also impacted, needing to be in the box and alert with eight seconds remaining on the pitch timer, or they are charged with an automatic strike. 

Scherzer allowed just one run in seven innings in his start Thursday as the Mets swept the Phillies. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.