New York Mets second baseman Jeff McNeil Mar 30, 2023; Miami, Florida, USA; New York Mets second baseman Jeff McNeil (1) reacts from first base after hitting an RBI single during the sixth inning at loanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

The new rules in place for the 2023 Major League Baseball season are going to take some getting used to.

That includes players, coaches, and umpires.

With the pitch clock in place, it’s changed the way that umpires call the game and hand out penalties for situations where too much time has elapsed. That was on full display Thursday during the New York Mets-Miami Marlins game.

Home plate umpire Larry Vanover called an automatic strike on New York’s Jeff McNeil because Pete Alonso was slow getting back to first base following a foul ball. As you might imagine, everyone involved was confused.

While the news rules have their fans, this felt like an overreach by Vanover to a lot of people watching at home, not to mention that the punishment seemed arbitrary given the “crime.”

“If the reason for this is to speed up the game, it did the exact opposite. How much time was wasted after with the argument? Dumb,” said one fan.

“The worst thing for baseball is umpires having more avenues for attention,” said another.

“I am not too keen on MLB rules, but I still don’t understand how you can add a strike that never happened,” said David Soderquist.

Even the SNY production crew was confused by what was happening.

Something tells us that this is only the start of weird, confusing, and seemingly unfair umpire calls this season.

[SNY]

About Sean Keeley

Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Editorial Strategy Director for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.