Pittsburgh Pirates: Takeaways From Home Opening Series Victory Against the White Sox

New rules are being enforced

Umpire Laz Diaz and his crew made one thing abundantly clear this series - the new rules will be enforced. To the credit of Derek Shelton and his staff, the Pittsburgh Pirates look prepared to adjust to the new rules.

There were multiple instances in each game of the series in which the White Sox were called for a pitch clock violation. Both White Sox pitchers and hitters were guilty of violating the new rules throughout the series.

Then on Sunday afternoon the White Sox were penalized for a violation of the new shift rules. After Michael Koepch had thrown a strike to Oneil Cruz to make the count 2-2, Elvis Andrus was called for violating the new shift rules by being in the right field grass.

Due to the violationg by Andrus, Cruz's count was changed to 3-1. On the next pitch Cruz drew a walk. This violation proved to be costly as Cruz would come around to score later in the inning.

Umpires have made it clear that they are going to enforce the new rules. Over the weekend the White Sox were in violation of the rules way more often than Pedro Grifol would have liked. Again, tip of the cap to Shelton and his staff for seemingly having the team ready to go.