Kenley Jansen came on in the ninth to close out a game the Braves were leading over the Padres. Under MLB’s pace-of-play rules, he got two minutes and five seconds to warm up. Before he could throw, umpires stopped him for a mandatory sticky substance check. That used up part of his warm-up clock, and when he asked for extra pitches to get back on track, umpire Bill Miller denied him. Jansen pushed back, saying it was part of his routine and that he hadn’t been given proper time to warm up. The ump didn’t budge, claiming his hands were tied by league rules.
Despite the awkward start, Jansen got down to business. He struck out Manny Machado with a high fastball, got Jake Cronenworth to ground out, then finished it off by inducing a pop fly from Luke Voit that Dansby Swanson hauled in. The inning went smoothly, but Jansen still had words with Miller afterward. He pointed out he only threw three warm-up pitches and argued that being checked mid-warm-up should stop the clock. Miller seemed to acknowledge the frustration but maintained it wasn’t his rule to change.
The whole thing highlighted a flaw in the system. If pitchers are forced to pause their limited warm-up time for checks, they should get that time back. It’s a small issue, but one that could matter in tight games when routine and rhythm are key.