John Kruk goes nuclear on MLB pitch clock during Phillies-Diamondbacks game
It’s been less than two months, and John Kruk is already at his wits end with MLB‘s pitch clock rule.
The NBC Sports Philadelphia announcer went nuclear in the booth in the 10th inning of the Phillies’ 6-5 home win over the Arizona Diamondbacks Wednesday. Kruk was perplexed as to why home-plate umpire Junior Valentine issued a pitch clock violation against Phillies reliever Craig Kimbrel during a Josh Rojas at-bat.
The pitch clock violation against Kimbrel came moments after the umpiring crew had a multi-minute discussion with the Diamondbacks designated hitter, as well as manager Torey Lovullo for a possible rules violation at the plate on an 0-2 count. Rojas was not called out, allowing the at-bat to continue.
“Ah dear crap almighty,” Kruk said, via Awful Announcing. “What a joke. What a circus this game’s turned into.”
Phillies manager Rob Thomson quickly emerged from the dugout after the pitch clock violation was called, engaging in a “discussion” with Valentine. Kruk was here for Thomson getting his money’s worth.
“He should be [hot],” Kruk said. “What the hell’s Kimbrel supposed to do? They had a meeting for 15 minutes, and he steps on the mound and they call — this is a joke… Keep making up rules until no one knows what’s going on.”
John Kruk discusses controversy with Phillies 3B Alec Bohm postgame
As play-by-play announcer Tom McCarthy stated, the pitcher has to give the batter a chance to get set before throwing a pitch. In this scenario, Kimbrel began his pre-pitch routine before Rojas had stepped into the box, prompting the violation.
The incident came up during the broadcast duo’s postgame interview with third baseman Alec Bohm. Like Kruk, Bohm had no idea what was going on during Rojas’ at-bat.
“I didn’t know what was going on the whole time,” Bohm said.
Kruk countered with another zinger of his own.
“Alec, no one does, my friend,” Kruk said. “No one does.”
Bohm, meanwhile, walked it off in the bottom of the 10th to give the Phillies the victory. The win is just their third in their past 10 as the reigning National League champions are off to a disappointing 23-26 start to the 2023 season.