With Brusdar Graterol and Evan Phillips unavailable Monday night due to recent usage, the Los Angeles Dodgers turned to Ryan Brasier to close out their come-from-behind win in the series opener against the Baltimore Orioles.
The appearance was Brasier’s 11th with the Dodgers and first save opportunity since signing with the team upon being designated for assignment by the Boston Red Sox.
Brasier’s appearance began with a leadoff walk on ball four coming via a pitch timer violation. The automatic ball was called after umpires gathered for a brief discussion, and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts sprinted out of the dugout to protest what resulted in the Orioles having the tying run at the plate.
However, after the win, Roberts credited the umpiring crew for correctly applying the MLB pitcher timer rule, as seen on SportsNet LA:
“As the rule states, he called for ball within the nine seconds, under that. So it’s a ball call. They got it right.”
Brasier said the umpires informed him the automatic ball could have been avoided if he called for timeout instead of requesting a new baseball:
“Basically, I should’ve just called timeout and had Will come out, and it wouldn’t have been an issue. I got a new ball before nine seconds, which is the rule, just kind of sucks it happened to be 3-2. You learn. It ended up not hurting me.”
As Brasier noted, nothing came of the pitch clock violation, as he induced a double play and then retired Jordan Westburg to convert the save opportunity.
As a team, Dodgers pitchers have been penalized eight times. The official MLB pitch timer rule requires that pitchers ask for a new ball with at least eight seconds remaining on the clock. However, they can get penalized for repeatedly asking if an umpire believes it’s in attempt to circumvent the rule.
MLB’s new pitch clock otherwise is relatively straightforward, with it set to 15 seconds when bases are empty, 20 seconds if at least one runner is on, and 30 seconds between batters.
A batter must be in the box and alert to the pitcher by eight seconds remaining, or will be penalized with an automatic ball call. Dodgers hitters have been called for a pitch timer violation eight times this season.
Ryan Brasier flourishing with Dodgers
Brasier struggled with the Red Sox this season but has been much improved with L.A. Some of that stems from incorporating a cutter for the first time in his career.
Upon joining the Dodgers roster during the Freeway Series, the 35-year-old said he was convinced to sign in large part due to the plan the coaching staff outlined for him.
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