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Major baseball leagues are expected to approve major rule changes Friday, according to The Athletic’s Evan Drellich and Ken Rosenthal.
Pitching clock, bigger base Drellich and Rosenthal noted that the MLB “ultimately has the ability to push to change what it wants” because the commissioner’s office has a majority representation on the competition committee.
Pitch clock is arguably the biggest change. The proposed rule would limit pitchers to 20 with runners on base seconds, and when the bases are empty, the pitcher has 15 seconds of pitching time before the pitching action begins.
MLB has experimented with pitching clocks in the minors, ESPN’s Jeff Passan Writing in April, it “significantly increased the tempo but had no noticeable effect on the score.”
Devin Funk @DevanFink
Pitch clock is the best rule Change. Minor league games feel so crisp; that’s how baseball should be played. https://t.co/f36UIzfG63
Again, the new 18″ base in MLB will match what’s already in use in the minors. The goal is to increase the rate of stolen bases and limit the risk of injury as runners can claim more bags.
In the ensuing change, the pitcher can only attempt two catches per shot. On the third catch attempt, the pitcher will be charged with a foul if he fails to throw the runner.
In theory this would make for an interesting chess match between runners and pitchers.
Tortillas @cdgoldstein
I think the idea here is that the runners take a more aggressive lead after two throws and thus are more likely to succeed Catch and Stolen Base. Then it’s up to the pitcher to decide what he wants to bet on.
All of which is unlikely to meet much resistance from fans. On the other hand, banning defensive rotations could be a hot topic.
“Under the proposed rotation restrictions, at least four players, except the pitcher and receiver, have their feet completely on the infield dirt. Before the outer boundary, the two fielders need to stand completely on either side of second base,” according to Drellich and Rosenthal.
According to FanGraphs, the batting average for Major League Baseball batters this season is .243, which is The third-lowest ratio since the start of the expansion era in 1961. This is not a new trend. Almost everyone would agree that “three true outcomes” requires less and more action on the field. However, it is not immediately obvious how prohibiting such a shift would solve the problem. Matthew Prior @matthewpouliot
Do not. For pullers who tend to reduce contact, canceling this shift is a big plus. https://t.co/2FxQtMKm5y
Mike Petriello @mike_petriello
Like, I think there’s a fair share of fans who are going to get hit with a shift ban and they’re not going to slash the K or put the BA 25 points across the board. But at least we will prove it in action.
There is also the fact that managers can choose to question the opposing team for a violation of the shift rules. Expanding the scope of replay commentary only runs the risk of lengthening the game and diminishing the benefits of the pitching clock.
But fans better get used to the idea by now as it looks like banning shifts is almost inevitable.
