Zach Buchanan

zbuchanan@enquirer.com

GOODYEAR, Ariz. – The Cincinnati Reds once got a crucial out on an intentional ball they threw away.

It was 2012, and the Reds were playing the Arizona Diamondbacks. With Miguel Montero on third, the Reds had reliever Bill Bray intentionally walk Chris Young to set up a double play. Bray threw a ball in the dirt and it scooted to the backstop, but Montero wasn’t paying attention at third. After stewing in his own shock, Bray recovered in time to beat Montero home and record the out.

It’s the only time most Reds can remember an intentional walk going wrong, and it worked out in their favor. So when news broke Tuesday that the rule would change – managers could signal from the dugout and skip the prolog of four unnecessary pitches – most in the clubhouse met it with indifference.

“It’s a nothing,” said catcher Devin Mesoraco. “It doesn’t make a difference.”

The rule has not been made official yet, but ESPN reported that Major League Baseball and the players association have reached an agreement on the change for the 2017 season. If anyone truly cares one way or the other about it, it’s the pitchers.

They’re the ones who have to come out of their delivery and throw four pitches at a target significantly outside the strike zone. They’re the ones who are shamed when something goes wrong, no matter how well it worked out for Bray.

“I’m fine with it,” reliever Drew Storen said. “For me to have to waste four pitches then have to pinpoint the next one, it’s not the easiest thing in the world.”

The change may eliminate an annoyance for pitchers, but it’s unclear what difference it makes for MLB’s concerns about the pace of the game. The Reds took 37 intentional walks last year and issued 31 of their own. If each one takes a minute – and most take less – they’d have saved just more than an hour over a whole season under the new rule. That’s 25 seconds a game.

It may have been pointless, but it wasn’t that much of a drag on the action either. Joey Votto, who draws more intentional walks than just about anybody, had trouble finding any reason to care.

“It just doesn’t matter,” he said.