JUPITER, Fla. — Right-hander Giovanny Gallegos has been a very effective relief pitcher in high-leverage positions for the Cardinals. He also has a tendency to take his time between pitches, a lot of time.
He’s heard the criticism many times before. “It’s too slow,” he’s been told.
As of this spring, Major League Baseball will have a timer on the field and penalties in place to let pitchers like Gallegos know definitively that they’ve taken too much time.
If there were a “Most Wanted” list of pitchers guilty of slowing down games last season, Gallegos would certainly be at or near the top of that list.
That’s why eyes were fixed on Gallegos when he threw his first live batting practice session of spring training with a timer behind the mound and behind home plate on the practice field at the Cardinals complex on Wednesday afternoon.
"I'm still working on the timer and making some adjustments on my windup," Gallegos said.
Beginning with this spring’s exhibition games, pitchers will be required to begin their pitching motion 15 seconds after they’ve received the ball and stepped on the mound if the bases are empty.
They’ll be required to begin their motion 20 seconds after having received the ball with a runner or runners on base.
However, the time expands to 30 seconds for the first pitch to a new batter.
If a pitcher fails to begin his delivery in the allotted time, umpires will be instructed to call an automatic ball.
Prior to the workout, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol tried to downplay the issue of Gallegos’ adjusting to the pitch timer.
“I’m not overly concerned,” Marmol said. “At the end of the day, toe the rubber and pitch. It’s not a tough concept. He should be fine.”
Marmol also rejected the comparison to a hitter making changes to a swing or anything of the sort. In his opinion, those comparisons don’t apply because the timer isn’t a mechanical change or overhaul, it’s requiring a pitcher to do the same things just faster.
“I’d be very surprised if, by the time we get into a couple weeks of games, he’s not able to speed up,” Marmol said.
The cadence of catchers getting the ball back to pitchers and calling the next pitch quickly, particularly with the aid of the electronic PitchCom device, can also factor into the tempo.
Last season, Gallegos averaged 25.8 seconds between pitches with nobody on base. That tied the New York Yankees’ Jonathan Loaisiga for the slowest tempo among qualified pitchers in the majors per MLB Statcast data.
He had the second-slowest tempo with runners on base (30.8 seconds) behind only Kenly Jansen (31.4 seconds).
Asked if he’d tried to make the adjustment this offseason, Gallegos replied in Spanish, “Yeah, I worked on it but it’s not the same to execute it in an official game opposed to being at your house and working on that.”
Exactly when the timer starts could play a big factor for Gallegos as he tries to consistently get within 15 seconds.
While facing hitters Paul DeJong, Tommy Edman and Dylan Carlson, Gallegos took an average of more than 18 seconds per pitch according to time kept by the Post-Dispatch.
That does not include two times when Gallegos stepped off the mound in order to have discussions with assistant pitching coach Julio Rangel. Both of those instances surpassed 30 seconds.
However, the timer visible on the field only expired three times. In one of those instances the clock momentarily froze and then jumped from 11 seconds to five seconds when it resumed.
Gallegos got within the final seconds of the visible 15-second countdown multiple times. On time he released the ball with four seconds remaining. He did not have any issues with the 30 second timer for the first pitch to a new batter.
“It’s hard for me,” Gallegos said. “This is my first experience with that one. It’s a big challenge for me. I’m trying to make some adjustments about the timer.”
The batting practice session marked his first experience with the timer. He said he did not notice any ill effects on his pitches by trying to increase his tempo. He said it felt “normal,” and also said, “I trust my stuff.”
Gallegos, who signed a two-year contract extension in October, posted a 3.05 ERA with 12 holds and 14 saves (in 20 save opportunities). He struck out 73 batters and walked 18 in 59 innings. He finished the season with a 1.02 WHIP and opposing hitters batted .197 against him.
Acquired along with left-hander Chasen Shreve from the New York Yankees in the Luke Voit trade, Gallegos has made 214 appearances for the Cardinals since 2018. He made a career-high 73 appearances in 2021.
He led the Cardinals with 57 appearances last season, and he also ranked second on the club with 14 saves behind only All-Star reliever Ryan Helsley’s team-leading 19.
Gallegos, 31, will take part in the World Baseball Classic for Team Mexico. The new rules will not be part of the WBC games. While he’ll go back and forth between games governed by the new rules and games without the new rules, he intends to continue working to quicken his tempo during the WBC.
“I think it’s something new for everyone,” Gallegos said in Spanish. “It’s going to be hard for someone to make the adjustment, but it’s just an issue with timing and knowing when to throw the pitch.”
Staff writer Daniel Guerrero contributed to this report.
