Pitch timer A pitcher must begin his motion before the expiration of the 15-second timer, or 20 seconds with at least one runner on base. There will also be a 30-second clock for pitchers between batters. Pitchers will be permitted to step off the rubber twice per plate appearance without penalty, which resets the clock. Any more will be treated as a balk unless an out is recorded on a runner. Furthermore, the pitch clock resets if the baserunner advances. Additionally, a hitter must be in the batter’s box with at least eight seconds remaining and they will receive one timeout per plate appearance. Umpires have the authority to provide additional time if warranted for special circumstances, such as the catcher making the last out of an inning and needing more time to put his gear on. During testing in the Minor Leagues, the average time of a nine-inning game was reduced by 25 minutes, from 3:03 to 2:38. Stolen base success rate also increased by 10% during the 2022 season, and stolen base attempts increased from 2.23 attempts per game to 2.81. Shift restrictions Two infielders must be positioned on each side of second base when the pitch is released, and all four infielders need to have both feet within the outer boundary of the infield when the pitcher is on the rubber. They may not switch sides unless there is a substitution. The penalty for failure to comply with the shift restrictions is an automatic ball. MLB said the goal of the new shift rules is to encourage more balls in play, give players more opportunities to showcase their athleticism and offset the growing trend of alignments that feature four outfielders. Larger bases The size of first, second and third base is increasing from the standard 15″ square to an 18″ square, with the hope of improving player safety and encourage teams to steal more frequently. Throughout testing conducted by MLB, base-related injuries decreased by 13.5% with declines at every level of the Minor Leagues. The base size also reduces the distance between them by 4.5″, making it slightly easier for players to steal a bag, which the league hopes will lead to an increase in stolen base attempts. Automatic runner on second base in extra innings As was the case in the last three seasons, teams will begin each inning after the ninth with an automatic runner on second base. However, this will only apply to regular-season games. Restrictions for position players used as pitchers Position players may only take the mound if a game is in extra innings, his team is trailing by at least eight runs at any point, or his team is winning by at least 10 runs in the ninth inning. Last season, teams were permitted to use position pitchers as pitchers only in extra innings, or if his team was trailing or winning by at least six runs at any point. It resulted in a record 132 pitching appearances by position players, which surpassed the previous high of 90 in 2021
Thats like saying there shouldn't be a 24 second clock in basketball. MLB is LONG overdue for these changes.
I like the rule changes, not a bad experiment, and the game needs to evolve. Sadly, it may be a dinosaur, unappealing to our increasingly short-attention-span consumers. I love baseball, root for the Mariners but I yell at clouds and know who Dick Cavett is.
Disagree. And I don't know why it's apparently OK for a football game to last 3+ hours, but not a baseball game. And FWIW, the 24 second clock has been around for 85+ years and was implemented when the NBA was still in its infancy. You think the changes are worthwhile?, that's OK, I don't.
Tweaks to games are always made, the NBA and NFL both have rule changes that help out the offense, in theory making it a more enjoyable game to watch, which is the same thing baseball is trying to do, make it more enjoyable to watch. The pitch clock is jarring right now because it's new, there is still some fine tuning that needs to be done but all it is doing is getting rid of the dead wasted space by the pitchers and batters that drag the game to a halt. It's not getting rid of a single second of what makes the game great. The sport is dying a slow death and it needs to be more attractive to TV viewers to survive, and this is a great way to make that happen. You know how all this could have been avoided ... by the pitchers actually throwing the ball instead of doing laps around the mound and staring in for seconds on end for the sign, only to step off the rubber. Oh yea and the batters staying in the box instead of stepping out after every damn pitch to readjust their gloves, take a practice swing and step in to the box all while digging in with their back foot holding up their hand asking for time. The players brought this upon themselves!
I dislike most of the changes, but I can certainly agree with you that the players (and managers) have brought this upon themselves.....and us.
Is this how we really want to see a game to end?... if it were a regular season game, the game would go into extra innings each team starts the ensuing innings with a runner on 2B, which I also don't go along with.
That's the only one that I have much of a problem with. The pitch clock will get adjusted to, the base size meh, whatever. Position players pitching is such a rare occurrence that it shouldn't have an effect on the season. That runner on second is just dumb though. What's next, ghost runners? Cross outs? I'm mostly a baseball purist, but 4 out of 5 of these don't bother me. I kind of hated the constant shifts happen in today's game anyway.
They're gonna use that runner on second permanently, except for the PS and the fact that they will exclude the rule in the PS, it seems to me they are admitting it's a bad rule.
I'm also a purist and for me, making defenses forgo the "shift" is the wrong thing to do. IMO, some of the over-paid 1-2 dimensional players simply need to be WILLING to go with the pitch to the opposite field instead of stubbornly trying to hit a 5-run HR on an outside pitch but end up rolling over on the pitch and hitting a weak grounder. Some say that players can't go the opposite, to which I say "BS". During most every batting practice they have drills for going the other way and some even practice bunting (another lost art). So it's not a case of "being able to" but instead a case of "being willing to". I don't have a problem with the pitch clock...and I do believe there should be a rule about batters calling for a time out just as the pitcher is about to throw the ball.
No but again I have to think tweaks will be made and players will adjust. There are some things they could change about the clock, maybe make it 20-25 seconds in the 9th innings, but they need that shock to the system right now. I've watched clips of an entire half inning being played in these ST games in the same time it took for ONE PITCH to be thrown the old way. Yes they may have swung the pendulum too far in the other direction, but have to assume things will get straightened out and we won't have to sit through 4 hour games any more in the regular season.
I never had much power so I would always take pitches the other way. I agree that they SHOULD do that, but they never would have.
seeing what a guy does in batting practice and expecting it in a live game is the same as watching a center hit 3s in practice and expecting him to hit them in games.
Yeah, blew my mind watching Plumlee drill several consecutive 3's in shootaround knowing that he'd never pull one in a game.
You don't know why "it's OK for a football game to be long, but not baseball"? I don't think you thought this post out to be honest. If you think REEEEAAAAALLLL hard, you might realize why.
I assume you're referring to "halftime"?...regardless, if you think REEEAALLL hard, you might realize that from beginning to end, 3 hours is 3 hours. If that's what you were referring to, hey, maybe we can get the NFL to eliminate all halftimes.
