Pitcher Hunter Dobbins of the Boston Red Sox rubs his spikes on the cleat-cleaner on the back of the pitching mound, prior to a plate appearance starting against the Minnesota Twins.
A Plate Appearance Starts
No matter what else is happening in a game, when a batter comes up to the plate to start a place appearance, the count is always 0-0. This “count" refers to the number of balls and strikes that have happened during a plate appearance, and as such, the numbers will go up over the course of the plate appearance. The count is always given in the format of “balls, then strikes.” So, at the start of the plate appearance, there are 0 balls and 0 strikes.
At some point, during the lead up to the first pitch, the pitch timer starts. The pitch timer is a measure that was first introduced before the 2023 season as a way to tighten up games by eliminating the dead time between pitches. When there is no one on base, the pitch timer counts down from 15 seconds. The batter must be in the batter’s box and ready to swing with at least 8 seconds left on the clock. If not, the umpire calls an automatic strike. Similarly, the pitcher must start their pitching motion before the clock runs out. If not, the umpire calls an automatic ball. The umpire does have the authority to pause the pitch timer in special circumstances1.