Rockies’ Bud Black OK with MLB experimenting with transferring mound again 12 inches – The Denver Put up

Rockies manager Bud Black, who played with the majors for 15 years, sees himself as a baseball purist. It might surprise some to discover that black is wide open to the latest experiment in baseball. He tinkers with the sacred dimensions of the game.

Major League Baseball announced Wednesday that it will move the pitching rubber and mound back 12 inches – to 61 feet, 6 inches – for the second half of the Independent Atlantic League’s season. The goal is to see if the change increases insult and decreases strikes.

“Let’s be creative and try,” said Black, noting the change is only experimental in a league for the foreseeable future. “I think baseball is listening to what the fans say and doing what they can to improve the offense and the action.”

Black added that pitchers’ fastball speeds continued to rise, wondering if that fact will require changes in the future.

“I don’t know where Pitcher’s stuff is going to be in 50 years, so this could be a good thing happening now,” he said. “Will pitchers throw 100-105 miles an hour in 50 years? Possibly. I’m fine if I look at that in the Atlantic League situation. “

Morgan Sword, executive vice president of baseball operations at MLB, said, “It’s a direct response to the escalating strike rate, where you’re giving the batsman about an extra hundredth of a second to decide whether to swing on a field. This only has the effect of reducing the effective speed of a pitch by approximately 1.5 miles per hour in terms of response time. The purpose of the test and hope is to give the hits even the tiny extra time that allows them to make more contact and lower the strike rate. “

Mood booster. The Rockies’ offense is undoubtedly a funk. They faced the Dodgers on Wednesday night after losing four straight times and being sent off in two consecutive games.

However, Black said it was important that a number of players, including CJ Cron and Josh Fuentes, don’t fall on themselves.

“We have some people who are slow to start and I don’t want them to beat themselves up and affect their performance,” said Black. “There’s a fine line there.”

Jake the giant. Former Rockies left-handed Jake McGee is thriving with the San Francisco Giants. On Wednesday night, McGee threw a goalless ninth inning that allowed a hit and strikeout to save in a 3-0 win over Cincinnati. It was his sixth save in the big league. He has an ERA of 0.00 and a whip of 0.41 in 7 1/3 innings.

McGee was released from the Rocky Mountains along with veteran right-handed Bryan Shaw just before the 2020 season. Both had signed three-year contracts worth $ 27 million prior to the 2018 season.

Why is McGee so well positioned now after failing Colorado in 2019? One reason for this is that McGee’s left knee is finally strong and healthy.

“I think that’s definitely part of it,” said Black. “I don’t think he’s playing with a knee brace now. I know he did it to us and it was a chore. “

Black said McGee’s success with the Dodgers last season and with the Giants earlier this season likely boosted his confidence.

“I think he feels like he can really pump this fastball at extra speed to really attack rackets,” said Black.