Mets pitcher Max Scherzer is not happy with the strict enforcement of the pitch clock.

Before the fifth inning of Thursday's 4-2 victory over the Phillies at Citi Field, Scherzer got into an intense conversation with plate umpire Tripp Gibson over enforcement of the pitch clock. MLB rules state there is two minutes between innings for local broadcasts, with pitchers allowed eight warmup pitches. But with Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez making the last out of the bottom of the fourth, delaying his arrival behind home plate as he needed time to put on catching gear, Scherzer could not finish his warmup pitches before Gibson signaled for the start of the inning, prompting the discussion between pitcher and umpire.

"Why can't the umpires have discretion in that situation to allow eight normal warmup pitches?" Scherzer said. "Why do we have to be so anal about this to have the clock shoved in everybody's face and try to step out every little second that's going into the game?"

According to Scherzer, when he asked Gibson why he couldn't finish his warmup pitches, the umpire said the league would "get mad at him" if he did not strictly enforce the clock. While MLB previously implemented a clock to measure break times between innings in 2015, they were not strictly enforced, giving umpires leeway to let pitchers warm up longer even if the time on the clock expired.

That has changed in 2023, according to Scherzer.

"It's situations like this that really are frustrating not only for pitchers, players, but even umpires," Scherzer said. "That's what Tripp says. Tripp is handcuffed. Why is Tripp handcuffed to not allow something normal, a normal routine. Why can't Tripp make that call?"