Clayton Kershaw is one of the few dominant pitchers in baseball who like to work very quickly, and Atlanta Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson appeared to be doing his best to disrupt that on Wednesday night. Needless to say, Kershaw did not appreciate it.
With the Braves trailing 5-2 in the top of the sixth, Swanson stepped out of the box during his at-bat against Kershaw and took quite a while to step back in. That led to an obviously frustrated Kershaw walking off the mound before telling Swanson “let’s go.”
Clayton Kershaw Really Hates Dansby Swanson taking forever to get in the box. ????
"Let's F'n Go." pic.twitter.com/F0Amp4ZHx2
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 9, 2019
The time Swanson took to collect himself didn’t work, as he struck out on a nasty curveball from Kershaw one pitch later.
Kershaw's next pitch to Swanson (so you know how it ended). pic.twitter.com/6tE1EbiU1m
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 9, 2019
Major League Baseball is still exploring the idea of implementing a pitch clock in an attempt to shorten the length of games, and the exchange between Kershaw and Swanson was a reminder that the same type of clock might be needed for the hitter. We’ve already seen some rule changes to speed up play that aren’t that popular among players, but all ideas to shorten games should be on the table.
