Cubs baseball scientist looking at pitch clock's impact on pitchers' performance

Mike Sonne was hired as the Cubs’ new baseball scientist late last year with a “specific purpose,” to look at how “sudden bursts of extreme effort might affect performance or injuries if a pitch clock was brought into play,” according to Scott Radley of the TORONTO STAR. With the introduction of the pitch clock, the Cubs wondered is Sonne could “help prepare their pitchers for this new reality and give them an advantage.” Injuries among pitchers are "up across baseball this year,” while some performances are "down considerably.” Sonne said the pitch clock has had a "significant impact at the major league level.” Radley noted each Monday Sonne “flies into Chicago where he spends a couple of days.” By Wednesday, he is “jetting off to one of the affiliates in Indiana or Iowa or Phoenix or the Dominican Republic for a few days to work with their pitchers” (TORONTO STAR, 6/25).