Ump steps in front of plate to stop warm up pitches, a breakdown
What Happened
Up 3-0 heading into the bottom of the ninth at Petco Park on April 20, 2022, the Braves sent in closer Kenley Jansen to lock things down against the Padres. During warm-ups, plate umpire Bill Miller signaled Jansen was done after just three pitches because of the between-innings clock, but Jansen wanted two more to finish on a fastball like his routine demands. The two went back and forth, with Jansen pointing out that umpires had just stopped him to check his hands for sticky stuff, which ate into his time. Jansen got the brush-off, took the mound anyway, and shut the door for the save.
Why This Matters
This one cuts to a real tension baseball never fully solved before the pitch timer arrived in 2023. The 2018 pace-of-play rule capped between-innings breaks at 2:05 for local broadcasts, with the final warm-up pitch due before the clock hit 20 seconds. Jansen's gripe was simple and fair: if umps stop you mid-routine to inspect your fingers under the June 2021 sticky-stuff crackdown, that interruption should buy you the lost time. Miller wasn't writing the rule, just enforcing it, and he logged the exchange as a mound visit. Jansen still closed it out, striking out Manny Machado and getting two soft flies, so the spat cost him nothing on the scoreboard. It captured a closer's superstition colliding with a clock nobody on the field liked.
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Key Moments
Who / What Is Involved
Players: Kenley Jansen. Teams: Braves.
Key Terms Mentioned
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentBraves are beating the Padres by three
this is the final out of the top of the
ninth inning two minutes and five
seconds will be put on the clock to run
to commercial to warm up there's Kenley
Jansen he's gonna come in for the safe
so we go to Commercial and here's the
rule MLB is instituted times of two
minutes and five seconds for local
broadcasts as of 2018 the Umpire signal
for the final warm-up pitch comes at the
25 second Mark and the Pitcher must
throw it before the clock hits 20. the
batter is also announced at the 22nd
Mark and the Pitcher must begin his want
begin his Wind-up to throw the first
pitch of the inning with the five
seconds before the clock hits zero now
in between Innings from this blimp shot
you can zoom in and see the umpires on
the mound with Kenly checking his
fingers for sticky stuff now with the
closers they do that before the inning
starts because it's pointless to do it
after the inning because the game is
over alright so now he gets checked for
sticky stuff he throws his warm up
throws a fastball there and the Umpire
says you get one more he says no I want
two more and he says no you only get one
more he says no I'm gonna throw two more
he says no no no no you're done you're
done I can't do anything turns to the
catcher he says no I'm gonna throw two
more this one's gonna be a curveball so
there you go and I'm guessing he wants
to end his warm-ups on a fastball so he
wanted two more that's his routine um
says Nah steps in front of Kenly is like
nah I can't let you throw this Kenley is
looking at what the [ __ ] is that
what's going on
what is that dude that's not cool so
he's gonna walk up and have a chat with
him
umpire's name is Bill Miller and you can
see him say Bill come on man
totally uncool now the Umpire he turns
to him and he says you have five minutes
and you threw your first pitch with 40
seconds and I I don't know why I think
five minutes just an exaggeration
because he knows he's got two minutes
kenley's gonna respond to him he's gonna
say but Bill you never called time and
now snitcom okay okay Bill hey Bill
that's not what matters there whenever a
closer comes in enough and his point is
like the pace of play we got to the
ninth inning the closers in you can't
rush the closers very important part of
the job very important inning and that's
kind of his first point and the um's
gonna respond and he's gonna say I know
but and the candle is gonna say you
can't do that that's my routine
I'm just doing whatever it is you guys
tell me
no way no way
but you guys stopped him too something
like I know you guys gotta check his
fingers I know I know but he's got to be
able to pitch
him after the game
and I'm says it's not us this is not my
rule I don't know so it's a pretty valid
point kenley's like hey hey Manny Manny
get behind the plate now the Umpire says
we're not doing it we're not doing it
we're not doing it
don't you throw a pitch
pretty fair point by Kenley like if you
gotta check my fingers on the mound
before I throw my warm-ups then you have
to grant me more time when I throw my
warm-ups seems pretty logical and fair
like call time out on the two minute
clock and let that run out if you're
interrupting my routine so he writes
down in this little note did my job
today and forced a rule that I don't
like lets them know that that counts as
a mound visit does it affect Kenly in
the inning well the first pitch there's
the fastball he wanted nice curve that
warm-up pitch 1-1 that darts inside two
and one that darts in again gives him
the call that was off the plate nice job
made up for it I always got the 2-2 the
Machado High fastball boom you're out
Cronin worth up outside fastball calm
down says catch in play dansby's got it
gathers it throws two outs next batters
Luke Voit that's up and in for a ball
and the 1-0 is foul out back 1-1 put in
play high Dansby comes all the way
across catches it let Olson know I got
those too I got those two so after the
game kenley's gonna go have a little
chat with Bill Miller the Umpire and
he's gonna like you know I only threw
three pitches and you see oh you oh I'm
saying right there you threw three
pitches and I think maybe the aunt
wasn't paying attention he didn't know
fully what's going on because kenley's
saying like I I got to be able to throw
more than three pitches you know and the
umps is asking me he's like yeah I was
trying to throw a fourth pitch fourth
pitch stop me and you can see him put
his hand on his shoulder and you see the
Umpire say Okay I I hear you I hear you
big man and then I think that's good I
don't know umpire's just trying to force
a rule that he doesn't make but the rule
is dumb and there should definitely be
an adjustment period if you get checked
on the mound
then that should encounter the time
against you warming up and that's just
common sense