Laz Diaz Calls Nestor Cortes' Quick Pitch...for a Needlessly Complicated Reason

[Lindsay]

When HP Umpire Laz Diaz called Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes for an illegal pitch vs Chicago, he told New York that Nestor stepped off and on the rubber, a technically correct reason to call a violation, but a lizard of a reason during a play where the primary illegal act was a quick pitch that didn't need a pivot foot vs pitcher's plate violation to be considered.

Official Baseball Rule 6.02(a)(5) Comment states, "A quick pitch is an illegal pitch. Umpires will judge a quick pitch as one delivered before the batter is reasonably set in the batter’s box. With runners on base the penalty is a balk; with no runners on base, it is a ball." (there were no runners.)

OBR's definition of Quick Pitch goes one step further: "A QUICK RETURN pitch is one made with obvious intent to catch a batter off balance. It is an illegal pitch."

One pitch prior to the play in question, Cortes delayed his delivery by throwing a "slow pitch"—a tactic he has employed in the past—only to then quick pitch White Sox batter Corey Julks on the very next pitch by hurrying his delivery as Julks was just starting to come reasonably set.

But instead of calling Cortes simply for making a quick return pitch with obvious intent to catch Julks unaware or unprepared, Diaz called a minute moment of Cortes's pivot foot breaking contact with the rubber before Cortes threw home.

Diaz's call was technically correct, but from a game management standpoint, a harder call to sell than the obvious quick pitch that occurred. This is because throughout baseball, if you slow it down and zoom in enough, you'll find that many pitchers routinely break contact between pivot foot and rubber during delivery, which sets a dangerous precedent.

Why is it called here and not when, say, Justin Verlander does it routinely? The answer is the same conclusion made at the very beginning of the article—it was a quick pitch, that's what made the sequence illegal. Just because we might know a rule doesn't mean we have to apply it to a situation which can be adjudicated using a much more obvious rule.

Video as follows:
Alternate Link: Diaz calls Cortes for quick pitch, but for a needlessly complicated/technical reason

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[Richvee]

Full disclosure. Yankee fan …. But this guy is a clown show.  Any way we can trade him to the Savana Bananas? 

[Velho]

Agree with the argument - and it's the same logic that should have been applied to the pump fake.

[SeeingEyeDog]

FWIW...I see quick pitches happen a lot in scholastic and travel games, and too many plate guys simply kill it and reset. If you have a quick pitch, call a quick pitch.

~Dawg

[Velho]

22 minutes ago, SeeingEyeDog said:

I see quick pitches happen a lot in scholastic and travel games, and too many plate guys simply kill it and reset. If you have a quick pitch, call a quick pitch.

Putting aside Nestor's hyperspeed-windup, and with batter not alert and ready being a quick pitch, what is a quick pitch?

Is a quicker "than normal" delivery from set with batter alert and ready a quick pitch?

[SeeingEyeDog]

3 minutes ago, Velho said:

Is a quicker "than normal" delivery from set with batter alert and ready a quick pitch?

If you have the "batter alert" then no...not a quick pitch. What am I missing?

~Dawg

[The Man in Blue]

1 hour ago, SeeingEyeDog said:

If you have the "batter alert" then no...not a quick pitch. What am I missing?

~Dawg

 

I don't want to be, but I am with you, Dog.  Quick pitch does not mean it is delivered quickly.  It means it is delivered quickly upon return, before the batter can get set.  In the Fed book, it is specifically called "quick-return pitch."  In the OBR book, it is contingent on the batter being "reasonably set" (and is also referred to as a "quick return pitch" in the definition of illegal pitch.  There is nothing about the pitcher's speed of motion or lack of mechanics.

I also don't agree with the term "natural motion" being misapplied for "routine motion."  A natural motion is one that logically continues in its movements.  A routine motion is what the pitcher normally does in his movements.  Nothing says a pitcher has to follow the same routine.  In the case of Le clown Nestor here, his "are you high-light" videos are neither routine or natural.

 

Le clown Nestor by Georges Rouault

[Velho]

2 hours ago, Velho said:

2 hours ago, SeeingEyeDog said:

I see quick pitches happen a lot in scholastic and travel games, and too many plate guys simply kill it and reset. If you have a quick pitch, call a quick pitch.

Putting aside Nestor's hyperspeed-windup, and with batter not alert and ready being a quick pitch, what is a quick pitch?

Is a quicker "than normal" delivery from set with batter alert and ready a quick pitch?

I agree. Was just checking to see if you had something else in mind plus, re-reading your statement, I think I put the wrong emphasis on the wrong syllable. "Call the quick pitch", as in grab the ball, not a kill it. I agree (though we have to balance safety of a completely unalert batter - unfortunately the rules don't let us do both - I don't think).

[SeeingEyeDog]

18 hours ago, Velho said:

I think I put the wrong emphasis on the wrong syllable.

Pardon me...are you making a "View From The Top" reference?

~Dawg