Cardinals RP's spring debut delayed to adjust more to pitch clock

St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Giovanny Gallegos Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Cardinals reliever's spring training debut delayed to adjust more to pitch clock

By Victor Barbosa | Last updated 2/24/23

St. Louis Cardinals reliever Giovanny Gallegos spent the 2022 season as one of the slowest-working pitchers in baseball.

Now, his spring training has been delayed in order for him to get more time to adjust to MLB's new pitch clock.

Giovanny Gallegos will not appear in Saturday’s game as initially listed. He’s getting more time — including now as I type this — on the back fields to hasten his delivery before facing clock in a game … https://t.co/f7Zu0Xh7IH
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) February 24, 2023

According to Baseball Savant, Gallegos ranked second-slowest in tempo with bases empty at 25.8 seconds in between pitches and second-slowest with runners on at 30.6 seconds last season. Per the new rules, a pitcher has to deliver a pitch within 15 seconds when the bases are empty and within 20 seconds when runners are on base.

If the rule is violated, a ball will be awarded to the batter, and the at-bat will resume.

While Gallegos still has over one month until Opening Day, this isn't the best news for fans to hear about one of the top members of the St. Louis bullpen.

The 31-year-old lines up behind 2022 All-Star closer Ryan Helsley on the bullpen depth chart, but manager Oliver Marmol showed last year that he isn't afraid of mixing and matching at the end of games. Helsley led the team with 19 saves, while Gallegos had 14, along with a 3.05 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 73 strikeouts across 59 innings covering 57 games.

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