Major League Baseball’s pitch clock is profoundly impacting the pace of games this season.
The new rules are also impacting pitchers and not always in positive ways.
Oakland A’s reliever Trevor May says that the pitch clock is making his job a lot harder and is seriously impacting his anxiety.
May told the San Jose Mercury News that his battle against anxiety almost led to his retirement last season. He’s also currently on the 15-day injured list as he deals with “issues related to anxiety.”
“Before, I had this big strong dude, a guard, and anxiety was trying to get in the doorway and the guard wouldn’t let it,” May said. “Now that anxiety is quick. The guard is too slow. The anxiety is just getting in there.”
May has struggled so far this season, boasting a 12.00 ERA while batters are hitting .357 against him. He said that the pitch clock and the way it speeds up the game is affecting his ability to manage that anxiety and find a rhythm.
“What’s going on? Nobody acknowledges it or even notices it,” May said of the pitch clock. “You feel like, how does nobody notice that pitching is so much harder now?
“We were told when we got up (to the big leagues), slow the game down, don’t let the game speed up on you. Now the game is literally speeding up. We can’t slow it down.”
May signed a $7 million, one-year contract with Oakland before the season.
