Pitch Clock Violation Leads to Realmuto’s Ejection for Pulling Catcher Mitt Back From Umpire’s Hand

HP Umpire Randy Rosenberg ejected Phillies catcher JT Realmuto following a pitch clock violation against pitcher Craig Kimbrel. Rosenberg was faked out when JT pulled his mitt away as the umpire attempted to place a replacement ball in it, causing the ball to fall to the ground. Report: Facebook: Twitter: Discord: The penalty for a pitch clock violation on the pitcher (failing to start delivery or pitching motion prior to the expiration of time) is an automatic ball, which was applied to Blue Jays batter Danny Jansen’s count. This is a silly Spring Training ejection due to a pitch clock/zero time violation call, although the ejection itself appeared to be for interpreted unsportsmanlike conduct in pulling the chair erm mitt (glove) away after requesting a replacement ball. The umpire had given the pitcher a replacement ball via a direct throw to the pitcher just moments earlier, which is probably why Realmuto took his mitt away, having likely reached back for a new ball out of habit, not realizing that Kimbrel had already been thrown one. Thus, Realmuto took the mitt away as Rosenberg deposited a new ball into it, except that the mitt was no longer there so Rosenberg ended up throwing the ball on the ground and then ejected JT for the misfire trick which was likely unintentional.