Baseball's new timing device made its big league debut Friday during a limited schedule of spring training openers and it was Manny Machado, the San Diego Padres' All-Star slugger, not a pitcher, who was called for the first violation.

Machado wasn't fully in the batter's box and facing Seattle Mariners left-hander Robbie Ray as the 15-second clock wound under eight seconds in the bottom of the first inning in Peoria, Arizona. Umpire Ryan Blakney called time and signaled strike one against Machado, who finished second in last season's National League MVP race.

Machado was hardly fazed. He singled on a 2-1 pitch and then collected another single his second time up.

Machado, who batted between fellow superstars Xander Bogaerts and Juan Soto, laughed about it afterward.

"Going into the record books, at least. That's a good one. Not bad," Machado said. "I might just be 0-1 if I can get two hits every game."

How does the pitch clock work?

"The pitch clock was tested in the minors and will now be used in the majors," AP sports writer Noah Trister wrote in the article "On the clock: New timer will affect more than just pitchers" on February 22.

"Whether you're a pitcher, a catcher, a hitter or a baserunner, there's no hiding from this rule change," Trister added.

The clocks will be positioned behind the plate and beyond the outfield, where pitchers and hitters can easily see them. They'll count down from 30 seconds between batters. Between pitches, it will be 15 seconds with nobody on and 20 if there's a baserunner. The pitcher must start his delivery before the clock expires.

After a pitch, the clock starts again when the pitcher has the ball back, the catcher and batter are in the circle around home plate, and play is otherwise ready to resume.

Batters must be in the box and alert to the pitcher with at least eight seconds on the clock. Batters can call time once per plate appearance, stopping the countdown.

When a pitcher doesn't throw a pitch in time, the penalty is an automatic ball. When a batter isn't ready in time, it's an automatic strike.

(With input from AP)