Johnny Cueto's balk looms large in loss, but here's why it's a questionable call

Johnny Cueto's trademark 'shimmy' resulted in a balk on Friday

The Dodgers beat the Giants, 3-2, Friday night to move within three games of the NL West lead. The game featured a pitcher's duel that did not disappoint. The lines:

Clayton Kershaw: W, 8 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 13 K
Johnny Cueto: ND, 8 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 8 K

Again, the Dodgers won by one, so this play in the first inning loomed large:

Justin Turner: Ball, Utley to third, Seager to second on wild pitch, Ball, Strike looking, Strike swinging, Ball, Utley scored, Seager to third on balk, Foul, Turner struck out swinging.

Cueto's crime? He did his little shimmy (it drives the women in San Francisco crazy), like he often does, but the umpires ruled it a balk. Take a look:

Just because something looks awkward doesn't mean it's illegal. Let's keep that in mind as we move forward. This is clearly a move done to disrupt the timing of the hitter by Cueto, but that's no crime. It's actually smart, so long as he doesn't mess himself up and he's good at controlling this.

But with runners on base, is it a balk? Let's take a look at the rules. Nothing in the actual balk rule specifically pertains here, but in Rule 5.07, we find this (emphasis mine):

(1)The Windup Position

The pitcher shall stand facing the batter, his pivot foot in con-tact with the pitcher's plate and the other foot free. From this position any natural movement associated with his delivery of the ball to the batter commits him to the pitch without interruption or alteration. He shall not raise either foot from the ground, except that in his actual delivery of the ball to the batter, he may take one step backward, and one step forward with his free foot.

This seems reasonable to say that Cueto interrupted or altered his delivery, but this happens a lot. Cueto has been doing it for years. Pedro Strop of the Cubs also comes to mind as someone who does things like this to disrupt hitter timing. Also, "alteration" seems a slippery slope here. Altering a delivery is a rules violation? So it has to be the exact same delivery every single time. That feels problematic.

Further, the penalty of a pitching violation with no runners on base is a ball. Why hasn't Cueto been charged with a ball before? He's been doing this for years.

This is less about Friday's result -- the Giants had all game to score more runs and then allowed the losing run in the top of the ninth -- and more about how this delivery should be treated moving forward. If the delivery is illegal, it should have been called as such for years and should continue to be called in the future. If it's not, why does it matter if there are baserunners?

Again, there is nothing in the balk rule that makes this a special case. The only rule that pertains is 5.07 above, which pertains all the time.

Hopefully MLB clarifies this before it impacts a playoff game, as Cueto's Giants (and Strop's Cubs) figure to be seeing some postseason time this year.

Hat-tip: Big League Stew