When 3B Umpire Dan Merzel called Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani for a 5th inning balk Friday, Ohtani earned his first MLB balk, following it up with a second several pitches later. Was this a balk by rule? Article:
The first balk called against Ohtani (大谷 翔平) made use of Official Baseball Rule 6.02(a)(1), which states it is a balk if, with runners, a pitcher “makes any motion naturally associated with their pitch and fails to make such delivery.” An open-ended rule, the specific balk called on Ohtani was likely of the start-stop variety, that is starting toward the plate before stopping and failing to make such delivery. How slight of a movement is too subtle and at what point does a flinch become an illegal act?
The second balk was an OBR 6.02(a)(13) balk: “The pitcher delivers the pitch from Set Position without coming to a stop.” Ohtani’s motion in rocking back and forth before throwing to home plate was described in real-time by Anaheim of Los Angeles of Currently in Phoenix broadcaster Mark Gubicza as a “quick pitch.” Although a quick pitch is also an illegal pitch, that is a separate balk rule and Ohtani’s failure to stop balk was not a rules-quick pitch (although both actions are illegal and constitute balks).
Finally, we follow this game all the way to the top of the 10th inning when, with the score tied and a runner at second, Diamondbacks pitcher Ryan Buchter was called for a start-stop balk (6.02(a)(1)) in a measure of balk sensitivity consistency, which moved LAA’s baserunner to third base, where he would eventually score on an RBI groundout in what would become the Angels’ winning run.
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