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Scherzer: Pitch clock would mess 'with the fabric of the game'

Patrick McDermott / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Major League Baseball is flirting with implementing a 20-second pitch clock in an effort to improve pace of play and is experimenting with the process during spring training.

If Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer made the rules, however, the clock wouldn't make it into the regular season.

"I know as players that’s something that MLB is trying to negotiate," Scherzer said, according to Chuck King of The Associated Press. "I don’t think there’s negotiation here. As players, it just shouldn’t be in the game. Having a pitch clock, if you have ball-strike implications, that’s messing with the fabric of the game. There’s no clock in baseball and there’s no clock in baseball for a reason."

If the rule is adopted, pitchers will be charged with a ball if they fail to throw a pitch with runners on base within the 20-second time limit. In his first appearance in Grapefruit League action, Scherzer did not exceed 20 seconds between any of his pitches with runners on.

A pitch clock has been used in some minor-league games since 2015.

Scherzer added he doesn't see time between pitches as the primary issue surrounding slower pace of play, and cited an article by Travis Sawchik of FiveThirtyEight suggesting an increase in foul balls is the more egregious culprit.

Commissioner Rob Manfred can decide to introduce the pitch clock without the MLBPA's blessing, but the league is looking to reach an agreement with the union instead.

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