MLB Ejection 031 - Bill Welke (3; Kevin Cash)

[Lindsay]

3B Umpire Bill Welke ejected Rays Manager Kevin Cash (balk call; failure to notify umpires of Windup Position) in the top of the 3rd inning of the Royals-Rays game. With none out and one on (R3), Rays pitcher Matt Andriese attempted to deliver a 0-0 pitch to Rays batter Alcides Escobar, and was...

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[White47]

Just for my clarification, If he notified the UIC that he was going to go from the windup this would have been ok?

[Thunderheads]

I wish NFHS would adopt this.  Just let the umpires know you're going from the stretch or wind-up if you want to go hybrid.  Then ...it's purely on them!  

[scrounge]

1 hour ago, Thunderheads said:

I wish NFHS would adopt this.  Just let the umpires know you're going from the stretch or wind-up if you want to go hybrid.  Then ...it's purely on them!  

I wish they'd just make it even easier. There's a good, detailed definition of the set position as regards to feet - the pivot foot in full contact with the pitcher's plate and parallel, with the free foot somewhere in front of the line of the front edge extended. Just call everything else that *doesn't* meet that definition the windup. It's far easier to define one thing and then make everything else the other thing than closely define two things and live with this ambiguous in between.

Then, if not clearly in the set, no pickoffs without stepping off, no Zaprudering if the free foot is in line with that front edge or an inch beyond, easier to teach and enforce, etc.

[Jimurray]

I'm wondering if you could tell if Andriese was going to windup or come set from other clues such as how he engages the rubber and a possible different look in for the sign. I haven't seen a sideways pitcher yet that I couldn't tell what he was going to do. But it could happen. Thus the rule.

[Lindsay]

@White47 Yes, the only visual cue the umpire is to consider is how the pitcher engages the rubber. Because Andriese placed his pivot foot parallel to and in contact with the pitcher's plate with his other foot somewhere in front of the plate, by rule, that's Set Position unless he makes notification that he is pitching out of Windup. We're okay with the delivery if we've established he's pitching from Windup, but we're not okay with the delivery if he's in Set.