the first new MLB rules since '96

anyone thrilled with Bud's "improve the on-field issues" committee? O BOY, GEORGE WILL

i wish they had invited some of the brighter young managers in the game. george will can burn, obv. i don't think any players should be in there because baseball players are really dumb.

low-hanging fruit?

http://mlb.sbnation.com/2012/5/10/3012029/mlb-fake-to-third-throw-to-first-move-balk

so the idea is that would speed up the game?

does it even happen once every 5 games?

maybe that?! of all the things dumb about baseball i never thought the fake to 3rd was one of them.

Granderson fell for the banana in the tailpipe?

RHPs will step off the rubber and do the same damn thing. It will probably happen with roughly the same frequency.

Neyer predicts that, SOMEDAY, MLB will have to reduce strikeouts and pitching changes to shorten games.

http://mlb.sbnation.com/2012/5/29/3048980/ernesto-frieri-angels-strikeouts

Neyer's been on that soapbox for a while. Anyway, the game goes in cycles so I wouldn't assume that strikeouts are some runaway phenomenon that's going to necessitate a significant rule change.

The fake-to-third/throw-to-first will now be ruled a balk:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/mlb/news/20130126/pickoff-rule-change.ap/

The hidden-ball-trick's days are surely numbered.

ha, i used to do this all the time when i played

will cut 30 seconds off the average game

I wonder if the LV sports books are offering an o/u on the number of balks that will come of this in 2013.

looking to ban collisions at home

http://www.baseballnation.com/2013/12/12/5201700/mlb-banning-collisions-home-plate-winter-meetings-rules

http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2014/1/28/5353948/baseball-padded-caps-pitchers-safety

"Just reading through it, the main thing it does is eliminate the malicious collision," Posey told ESPN's "Baseball Tonight" on Tuesday morning. "If the catcher is not set up right on top of the plate, it doesn't allow the runner to run through him."

Posey said the tweak to the rule would not alter the way he prepares for the season as a catcher or as a baserunner.

"For the most part, I think it'll stay pretty much the same," Posey said. "We've never been taught to set up right on top of the plate; we've always been taught to give the runner a little bit of the plate.

"[As a baserunner], my mindset, when I'm coming around third, is to slide hard and late."

Texas Rangers catcher J.P. Arencibia said the new rule "takes away the malicious intent behind the play at the plate."

"It stops guys just going out of their way just to try to dislodge the baseball when [catchers] have the plate," Rangers manager Ron Washington said.

Hall of Famer George Brett, the Kansas City Royals' vice president of baseball operations, said he doesn't like the rule even though he understands that the objective is to reduce injuries.

"I'm not a big fan of it," Brett told ESPN.com. "Catchers are taught to put their foot right in front of home plate, and the plays are bang-bang. I like the collision.

"I don't sit around at home at night and think about it. This is the first time I've thought about it since two months ago when somebody told me, 'They can't run into catchers anymore.' I said, 'That sucks. I love that play.'"

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/10512206/mlb-bans-home-collisions-1-exception

so without amending the rulebook, MLB has redefined a legal catch

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/mlb/transfer-rule-focus-of-cleveland-replay?ymd=20140409&content_id=71485458&vkey=news_mlb

I'm sure you've heard, they've fixed this idiotic transfer thing

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/mlb-makes-1st-major-adjustment-of-replay-era-tweaks-transfer-rule-042514

Rules quiz:

http://www.sbnation.com/2014/8/27/6075321/obscure-mlb-rules-quiz

I got 7/10.

In the Arizona Fall League this year:

http://deadspin.com/baseball-will-test-out-six-new-rules-to-speed-up-the-ga-1641283166

Hitters must keep at least one foot inside the batter's box at all times, barring exceptions like foul balls, wild pitches, or if the umpire grants him time out.

Pitchers must throw a pitch within 20 seconds of receiving the ball. Clocks posted in each dugout will count down the 20 seconds.

There will be a maximum break between innings of 2:05, with a clock keeping track. Hitters must be in the batter's box by 1:45. If the hitter's not ready, the umpire can call a strike. If the pitcher doesn't throw a pitch by 2:05, the umpire can call a ball.

Teams will have a maximum of 2:30 to change pitchers, with the clock starting as soon as the reliever enters the playing field.

Teams are limited to a maximum of three mound visits per game, not including pitching changes. This applies to trips to the mound by managers, coaches, and catchers.

Pitchers no longer have to deliver four balls for an intentional walk. The manager can simply signal to the umpire.

new pace rules for MLB this year

http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2015/2/20/8075545/mlb-pace-of-play-changes-effective-2015

MLB, MLBPA ADOPT SLIDE RULE ON DOUBLE PLAYS, PACE OF GAME CHANGES
Interference Rule Governing Double Play Slides Clarified;
Mound Visits, Break Times Adjusted in Pace of Game Program

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/165429062/pace-of-game-changes-new-slide-rule-adopted

“People watch the UFC. But they get mad when a guy breaks his ankle at second base because of a hard slide. I don't get it." -- Ian Kinsler, future Fox analyst

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ce_iquoVAAELtrm.jpg:large

In the 9th last night vs the Mets, Jayson Werth was called out for interference making a late slide on a DP breakup attempt. I'm getting a little sick of Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling grousing about the new unmacho world (Keith sneered about "the geniuses" who effected the rule). Nats GM Rizzo also got into a shouting match with the umps after the game. Tough shit, dinosaurs.

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/watch-ninth-inning-slide-rule-call-plays-a-big-part-in-mets-win-over-nats/

https://www.sny.tv/mets/news/nats-gm-ump-argue-over-call-on-werth-slide/188622326

oh go fuck yourselves

"Major League Baseball plans on testing a rule change in the lowest levels of the minor leagues this season that automatically would place a runner on second base at the start of extra innings, a distinct break from the game’s orthodoxy that nonetheless has wide-ranging support at the highest levels of the league, sources familiar with the plan told Yahoo Sports."

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/mlb-plans-to-test-new-extra-innings-rules-in-rookie-ball-with-joe-torres-approval-224914115.html

What in the blue hell is that all about.

Honestly, I would prefer ties in baseball to a dumb rule change like that.

“It’s not fun to watch when you go through your whole pitching staff and wind up bringing a utility infielder in to pitch.

gotta disagree with you there, Joe.

i will give you each $1000 if this ever becomes a major league rule

twist: the free runner on second base is bartolo colon

Anthony Castrovince @castrovince
This idea has uncovered quite a number of rookie ball purists.

first they came for rookie league, and i said nothing

gonna need one for this, because c'mon

https://twitter.com/AJCassavell/status/831916548369510400

that's even worse than jordan walden

no one ever calls traveling anymore

that is a fucking weird delivery.

Cater Crapps

@JeffPassan
Rob Manfred: There will not be substantive rules changes in 2017 due to "lack of cooperation from the MLBPA."

@EricFisherSBJ
And Manfred then reveals a new chestnut in new labor deal: a unilateral ability by the league to impose rules changes as soon as next yr

@JeffPassan
Among the rules changes MLB could impose, per Manfred: a pitch clock, a smaller strike zone, fewer visits to the mound, auto-intentional BB.

yay lack of cooperation

As part of its initiative to improve pace-of-game play, Major League Baseball has approved a change to the intentional walk rule, going from the traditional four-pitch walk to a dugout signal, team and union sources told ESPN's Howard Bryant.

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/18737245/mlb-union-agree-get-rid-traditional-intentional-walkwill-use-signal-dugout

this will save nearly 12 seconds per game

i'm so pissed that the miggy cabrera intentional walk single will never happen again

ugh

what about the Johnny Bench WORLD SERIES fake-IBB strikeout?

(1972)

i was not alive but that sounds tremendous

i know ive posted it before

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TPCNP4_qXo

that's bizarre that they did that with two strikes

i am in favor of pitch clocks but very much NOT in favor of not having to actually throw the pitches for an IBB wth

As a way for all sides to save face (the commish wanted a strike zone change but ffs you can't spring that on the players on short notice in the middle of spring training), this IBB thing suits its purpose.

Grant Brisbee, like me, is concerned about the commish's "desperate urgency"

http://www.sbnation.com/2017/2/22/14693248/mlb-rule-changes-rob-manfred-intentional-walks-strike-zone

Seven-pitch-maximum at-bats -- no "staying alive" with two-strike fouls. If you can't put the ball in play and/or reach base in seven pitches or less, sit down. Three strikes of any combination -- you're out. Quicker game, starters go a little deeper. Will never happen, obv.

offense would go way way down

Tough.

^apostate

@MyKBO
Pace of Play: Will MLB make guys sprint to first after getting hit? KBO rules state player must run to 1st before removing protective gear

marchman concurs: http://deadspin.com/baseballs-new-intentional-walk-scheme-is-a-pointless-o-1792633670

my sense is that ownership is indeed frightened, in the long term, about the millennials and their tiny attention spans -- but that fright pales beside anything money-related. this seems more like manfred flexing for the union. if he can paint the union as backward and unhelpful on something relatively meaningless, maybe he can later bargain it away for something that saves owners money.

this rule change is pointless. if they really want to shorten games, enforce existing rules on leaving the batter's box, etc. allow fewer mound visits. what the hell do relievers need eight warmup pitches for? warm up in the bullpen, bitch.

(i figure we're gonna get universal DH before long, which won't shorten games either. i have made my peace with this.)

the money stuff is a constant, ongoing battle, though, and the players union has gotten rolled in the last several CBAs. i think this is mainly a feint as both sides prepare for 2021

there was a hypothetical on EW a few weeks ago re: how much it would cost for MLB to just make little league free for anyone who wants to play. you want young people to like this very difficult, often boring game u gotta start them young...

also maybe stop saying it's boring

good idea. I never would've gotten into baseball if I hadn't done little league for a few years.

Seven-pitch-maximum at-bats -- no "staying alive" with two-strike fouls. If you can't put the ball in play and/or reach base in seven pitches or less, sit down. Three strikes of any combination -- you're out. Quicker game, starters go a little deeper. Will never happen, obv.

This is utter madness, the 10-pitch AB is the tensest and best thing in all of baseball

except maybe triples

otm

take that, carter capps

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C57PENpVAAASp_-.jpg

otherwise known as the I Can't Believe We Had To Make This a Rule, What is This 2nd Grade Grow up Carter Capps Come On rule

i was gonna throw a jab in at jordan walden as well but he's probably already reaching for the whisky bottle anyway

weird. i guess two hops is bad, but Capps' single-hop is ok?

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/mlb-has-clarified-its-carter-capps-position/

Importantly, MLB determined the above delivery was legal. Based on their own interpretation of the rules, MLB gave Capps’ motion its blessing, so long as he didn’t jump *up*. It was emphasized that Capps would have to drag his back foot. So it remains.

...One hop is fine, while 2+ are not. There was Jordan Walden, and now there is Carter Capps. The way baseball explains it, there’s nothing wrong with the way Capps throws, so long as there’s something of a “drag line” in the dirt.

really don't understand why the MLB doesn't just avoid the confusion and slippery slope and just make the rule that you have to be in contact with the rubber when you release the ball. you know, the...normal way of pitching

Seven-pitch-maximum at-bats -- no "staying alive" with two-strike fouls. If you can't put the ball in play and/or reach base in seven pitches or less, sit down. Three strikes of any combination -- you're out. Quicker game, starters go a little deeper. Will never happen, obv.

― Andy K, Wednesday, February 22, 2017 12:37 PM (one week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this is the worst thing I've ever read

srsly

i'm not sure normal pitching involves being in contact with the rubber at the moment of release? the back foot coming up/off seems to happen right around the release point for most guys

yeah it's close for sure but it seems like a common sense approach can be taken. don't jump, don't do any other obvious weird shit. like basketball and traveling

I don't watch much basketball, but I gather players travel like crazy compared to a generation or more ago.

the "two steps allowed before shooting" flex has infiltrated pretty much every other aspect of dribbling

so we're all agreed that carter capps can keep pitching like that as long as he dribbles?

seems like the next logical step

bring in a long jumper, have him start on second, hit the rubber on his last jump, deliver the ball from 38 feet

'subpar stuff, but his deceptive delivery really plays up'

After months of haggling over the final details of the new collective bargaining agreement, the document is completed and now in the hands of printers, sources said. This clears the way for the pace-of-action conversations between Major League Baseball and the players' association that are destined to have a lasting impact on a sport long celebrated for its timelessness.

Baseball officials and players may ultimately embrace -- or confront -- two words that seemed unimaginable even five or 10 years ago: pitch clock. And as the union and MLB exchange ideas in the months ahead, some players privately hope that part of the solution is the advent of an electronic strike zone, which they believe could serve to move the games along as much as a time limit between pitches.

http://www.espn.com/blog/buster-olney/insider/post/_/id/16805/olney-baseball-keeps-getting-slower-but-change-will-come-by-2018

i am totally on-board with a pitch clock. automatic ball. plus actual enforcement of the batter's box rule ffs. an automatic strike if they step out. DONE. once players got used to it you'd forget it was there. imagine! an end to interminable fiddling with batting gloves, etc.

fuck an electronic strike zone though. a dramatic, physical punch-out from the ump to end an inning is one of the greatest things in baseball.

I'd be cool with a dramatic machine punch-out.

yeah i don't know if i'm ready for robo-umps

pitch clock is long overdue tho

i am wary of the "unintended consequences" of rule changes that Kevin Goldstein used to warn of on the BP podcast

(ie What Will Joe West Do)

you wouldn't be allowed to forget the pitch clock is there. mlb is obsessed with making big deals out of these things. remember when they implemented replay and treated it like a major news event every time a manager made a challenge?

if there's a pitch clock they'd force every stadium to stick a big countdown right behind the batter

there's been a pitch clock in AAA and AA for a couple years now and it's not a problem -- it almost never comes up, in fact. it's just a tool, not a revolution

I feel like the proposed mound-meeting rules unfairly target Willson Contreras, who stands to lose much from his primary form of interpersonal communication

— Jeff Sullivan (@based_ball) January 19, 2018

icymi...Brisbee

https://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2018/1/23/16923186/mlb-pitch-clock-proposal-pace-of-play

yeah bring on the pitch clock obviously

so this was weird

https://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2018/2/1/16961470/mlb-pitch-clock-rob-manfred-players

there's gonna be a lot of weird maneuvering like this as we edge toward CBA armageddon

i'm sure that manfred and management do indeed want the games to be shorter -- also pretty sure that they'd gladly jettison it as a bargaining chip for something that would save them money

CBA is low in my stack of Armageddons

https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-announces-pace-of-play-initiatives/c-266718664

• Mound visits: Mound visits will be limited to six per team per nine innings. Teams will receive an additional visit for every extra inning played. Any manager, coach or player visit to the mound will count as a mound visit. Visits to the mound to clean cleats in rainy weather, to check on an injury or potential injury or after the announcement of an offensive substitution are excepted. Also, normal communication between player and pitcher that do not require either to vacate their position on the field do not count as a visit. If a team is out of visits, the umpire will have discretion to grant a visit at the catcher's request if he believes there has been a cross-up between the pitcher and catcher.

i don't have the stats handy but how often do teams typically visit the mound per 9 innings anyway? 6 per team doesn't really seem like it's going to change anything.

they do it a ton when games get close and into the later innings

sometimes jetes just needs to get everybody on the same page

i think i'm ok with this? i don't care about "pace of play" but it's pretty annoying when the catcher goes up after ever other pitch. i might have limited it differently but i'm ok with reducing mound visits in general.

i don't care about "pace of play" but it's pretty annoying when the catcher goes up after ever other pitch.

I think this is going to kill Julio Teheran.

Catchers Willson Contreras and Martin Maldonado are...ABOVE THE LAW

Catchers Willson Contreras and Martin Maldonado have already said they won’t follow the new mound-visit rule. Specifically, they said they are willing to pay fines rather than comply if the game is on the line.

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-mound-visit-rule-might-have-an-enforcement-problem/

clearly the catcher should be ejected

The #MLB proposed a three-batter minimum while the MLB Players Association wants a universal designated hitter in the National League https://t.co/o9kTr78lrK pic.twitter.com/y0fPf0P73h

— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) February 6, 2019

A reminder:
MLB pitchers hit .115/.144/.149 in 2018, all-time lows in all 3 slash categories.
42.2 K%, higher than A.Chapman's record as a pitcher.
They had a wRC+ of -25! And they've always been terrible. The last time they had a wRC+ better than 2018 Chris Davis (46) was 1902. pic.twitter.com/h6u95tsJ78

— James Smyth (@JamesSmyth621) February 6, 2019

how do you all feel about a three-batter minimum rule (pitchers must face at least 3 batters before being removed; intended to speed up the game by having fewer pitching changes)?

in favor tbh

yeah i think it's a good idea? seems like if teams wanted to get around it they could have pitchers feign injury after a batter or two. so now we're bringing flopping into the world of baseball. but that's probably not a huge concern.

those were exactly my first reactions, too, but i haven't really thought about it much or heard arguments to the contrary.

i guess there is a genuine health concern argument you could make about forcing pitchers to pitch a certain amount

it's amazing how baseball has convinced itself that it's impossible to make players actually play the game faster so instead they come up with shit like this.

yeaaaah...it does seem possible that someone could come in and have a terrible day *cough greg holland, cough*, throw 10 pitches to the first guy, 8 to the next, 9 to the third, or whatever. and you'd not only be forced to watch greg holland suck for 3 batters in a row, but also throw way too many pitches in the process?

or an old schooler like Tony Larussa might just visit the mound and tell him to hit the next 2 batters on the first pitch and gtfo?

opposed to 3-batter min

i don't like the endless pitching changes, but unintended consequences will likely be worse

kinda like term limits

and whoever tweets for NBC Sports, it's not "the MLB" you savage

if that got out of hand it wouldn't be difficult to institute a rule that if a pitcher is removed for an injury he has to sit for x games (like if you do an injury roster replacement in the playoffs)

i don't really get why relievers need eight warmup pitches -- that's what the bullpen is for. come in, throw two or three to get the feel of the mound, and get going

i'm out on anything that takes strategy out of the game and again, they could just.....execute pitching changes faster? like maybe the tubby manager doesn't have to stroll out to the mound to "take the ball?" maybe the new pitcher doesn't need a dozen warmup throws off the mound after having fully warmed up in the bullpen?

it doesn't take strategy out of the game, it just changes the strategy. you could argue it requires more strategic thinking to plan by batches of three batters instead of being able to swap out pitchers for each batter.

you could, but i wouldn't

i'm out on anything that takes strategy out of the game and again, they could just.....execute pitching changes faster? like maybe the tubby manager doesn't have to stroll out to the mound to "take the ball?" maybe the new pitcher doesn't need a dozen warmup throws off the mound after having fully warmed up in the bullpen?

― call all destroyer, Wednesday, February 6, 2019 11:57 AM (eleven minutes ago

right, or enforce a damn pitch clock!

i think they should just implemented this rule in the minor leagues so that it can work there and then never be properly implemented and enforced in the major leagues, several years later

xp lol

Even though I hate the glacial pace-of-play and the sheer pointlessness of many pitching changes--cf. my whining about the Brewers in last years NL playoff thread--my instinctive reaction to the three-batter idea is no. That seems to be an overly drastic and artificial intervention...I'd have to give it some thought to explain better.

the endless dance of trying to get/avoid hand-on-hand matchups is 'strategy' that isn't very interesting to me

Found this James tweet pretty illuminating:

In 1958 there were 11 major league games in which a starting pitcher was removed before pitching 5 innings or allowing a run to score.

In 1968 there were 11; in 1978, still 11. In 1988 there were 15; in 1998, still 15.

In 2008 there were 32.

In 2018 there were 125.

honestly that still doesn't seem like very much as a proportion of all games played, just over 5% right?

yeah it's an arbitrary stat, the point is that there are a lot of pitching changes and games are taking too long

If you just focus on the increase from 1998 to 2018, you're looking at the same number of games (no expansion since then, right?). That seems like a huge jump to me (and an exponential jump; twice as many by 2008, eight times as many by 2018), and not arbitrary. It shows that needless pitching changes are happening at both ends of the game.

I meant that 5 innings/no runs cutoff is arbitrary. agreed about the message

some of that is the rays using openers; more of it is teams recognizing the third-time-through-the-order penalty. i suppose i'd rather see a great starter go all nine, but if you wanna use a new reliever at the start of every inning i don't see a reason to outlaw it -- it's the in-inning pitching changes that are slowing things down

Good point...Obviously he based that on the five innings a starter needs for a win, so to the extent that starter wins are a relic, yes, arbitrary.

t shows that needless pitching changes are happening at both ends of the game.

don't know if "needless" is correct there. it might be that managers/front offices are learning that in certain situations, it's better to bring in a reliever relatively early in the game, before the pitcher faces a lineup for the dreaded 3rd time through the lineup, and before the pitcher qualifies for the all-important "win" or "quality start"

oops, xposts

Obviously he based that on the five innings a starter needs for a win, so to the extent that starter wins are a relic, yes, arbitrary.

this is a very minor thing, of course, but one of the things about bill james that annoys me is that he seems to find a lot of ways to keep the old stats alive

Say goodbye to the disabled list.

Major League Baseball is renaming its designation for hurt players the "Injured List" and getting rid of the DL, a fixture in the game since 1966, a source familiar with the plan tells ESPN.

News at ESPN: https://t.co/6HytAl2eS5

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 7, 2019

sounds good to me!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals/whats-not-to-like-about-proposed-mlb-rules-changes-nothing-except-for-one/2019/02/06/7a184fa8-2a56-11e9-b011-d8500644dc98_story.html

Baseball is fine. This obsession w/ shortening the games—by what, 15 minutes?—is stupid.

I hate the idea of a pitch clock, but fine. What I fear is that watching televised baseball will mean—from now on—hours of staring at an ONSCREEN COUNTDOWN for every pitch, which would seem to run counter to so much about what sets apart and elevates baseball. I like the languor of baseball, and I like the idea that to some degree players dictate the pace.

If they're going to do this I hope that we are only alerted to the clock when it expires.

My life already feels like a constantly ticking clock ffs

I think Joe Posnanski was dead set against the pitch clock, but once he went to a game that had one he became a fan, saying you really don't notice it. If it manages to speed up deadly slow pitchers like Jon Lester then it's a good thing. I do think putting it on screen is probably a mistake, unless they just turn it on for the last 5 seconds.

I like the "three-batter minimum" rule. I'm not so sure about the "runner on 2nd in extras" one, b/c it seems like every team would then put a light-hitting fast dude like Billy Hamilton on their roster who could just steal 3rd and score on a ground ball. maybe if you speculate that it has to be the manager or hitting coach, then I'd be in

what's the penalty if a pitcher doesn't pitch before the pitch clock runs out

he has to back up 5 yards

there's been a pitch clock in the minors for years and it is almost never a factor. once pitchers get used to it and the idea that they don't have endless time to fuck around, no one will notice it. penalty is a called ball

i don't think the guy-on-second-in-extras thing will ever actually happen in the majors, but if it did, that would be bad imo

To be clear I only object to having to stare at a countdown clock.

Yeah the runner on 2nd thing is awful. But so is three-batter minimum! I mean there's already a cost that comes with carrying a LOOGY— it means more work for the rest of your bullpen. It's one of the things that makes bullpen management interesting.

Ugh, I wish they'd just leave the game alone.

I don't think that overmanaging your bullpen LaRussa-style feels like an abuse of the rules or anything, it just makes the game more boring to watch

I agree w that but I also don't object to being bored occasionally. God forbid anybody should have to just be alone with their thoughts for a couple minutes. I'm nearly always doing something else when watching a game anyway.

Televised football and basketball games don’t constantly show their countdown clocks, so I really doubt they would show it for baseball.

Xposts

I was under the impression, which I totally pulled out of the ether, that the runner to be placed on 2nd was the first batter due up in that inning, so there's no way to guarantee a Billy Hamilton.

If they are going to change the DH, just go ahead and do it, don't put it up for debate or comment or anything.

xp - pinch runner then

it's the last batter of the previous inning who gets put on second; not sure if you're allowed to pinch run for him

Only year we ever won baseball at my school in 20 years (the Darren Shred year), the title game involved an extra inning and the start-on-second rule. We scored, they didn't. Can't remember how they determined the baserunner.

Televised football and basketball games don’t constantly show their countdown clocks, so I really doubt they would show it for baseball.

they do in football once it gets below :25. in basketball it's always on the screen, but the shot clock essentially drives the pace of the game sometimes so I get why that's necessary. feel like the smart thing to do in baseball is to just display it when it goes under :05

Don't display it at all, totally unnecessary. If they go over, you'll know!

clem the reds released yr man. he's still only 21, but the injuries may have done him in

https://www.sbnation.com/a/mlb-2017-season-preview/game-length

the article that convinced me a pitching clock is necessary

that's a great article. rip firewalled grant brisbee

a friend writes:

Of all the issues that MLB is allegedly discussing with the Players Association the one with the greatest potential for mischief is…September call-ups.

This seemed to be the favorite topic of complaint among baseball’s talking heads last fall – oh, the impurity of a team with 37 players on its roster competing with a team that has 34 players.

I get the concern about expanded benches and bullpens contributing to The Great Slowdown. But in a $10 billion industry where the union famously could care less about anyone (minor leaguers, stadium workers, striking hotel employees) outside their little guild and the owners are comically greedy, one month of 40-man rosters is the closest thing baseball has to a genuine share-the-wealth program. (Set aside for the moment clubhouse tipping and the teams’ revenue sharing plan).

Under the terms of the current CBA:

After completing 43 game days on a ML roster players become fully vested in the MLBPA’s defined-benefit pension plan and receive a minimum annual payout of $34,000 at retirement. (Annual benefit amounts increase with additional service time.)
With one (1) day of service time players receive comprehensive lifetime health insurance (including dental, vision and Medicare supplemental) for themselves and their immediate family.
(The CBA also includes provisions for long-term disability coverage and employer-funded IRA contributions. Dunno what the service-time requirements are for those benefits.)

It seems likely that getting called up in September is the main pathway for scores (maybe more) of fringe and AAAA ballplayers to accrue service time each year. Of course the rewards for making it past the Service Time Threshold look pretty paltry stacked up against an average major leaguer’s compensation package. But for normal people that is a fantastic level of economic security. In fact, if baseball was still the national pastime, someone could run a great Huey Long/Francis Townsend-type campaign around the notion of “Every American a September Call-Up.”

Maybe Tony Clark & Co. will come up with a savvy proposal to preserve or even enhance this benefits windfall for baseball’s have-nots by trading off a more restrictive September roster rule for reduced (i.e. more generous) service-time requirements. Obviously, ending the big overflowing September rosters in exchange for a full-season 26-man roster would not achieve that goal.

i would suggest, then, that only 25 players from expanded september rosters be available for each individual game. it wouldn't completely end the parade of relievers (since you could just swap in fresh ones tomorrow) but it might make managers at least consider the possibility of an 18-inning game

wow I actually remember that Brewer game

MLB ANNOUNCES FORMAT OF PITCH TIMER DURING SPRING TRAINING

Major League Baseball (MLB) today announced the format of a pitch timer that will be used during 2019 Spring Training games. No decision has been made on whether the timer will be used in regular season games.
A 20-second pitch timer will begin in three phases during Spring Training:
1) In the first Spring Training games, the 20-second timer will operate without enforcement so as to make players and umpires familiar with the new system.

2) Early next week, umpires will issue reminders to pitchers and hitters who violate the rule, but no ball-strike penalties will be assessed. Between innings, umpires are expected to inform the club’s field staff (manager, pitching coach or hitting coach) of any violations.

3) Later in Spring Training, and depending on the status of the negotiations with the Major League Baseball Players Association, umpires will be instructed to begin assessing ball-strike penalties for violations.

Like the rule in Minor League Baseball, the rule requires: (i) the batter to be in the batter’s box and alert to the pitcher with at least five seconds remaining on the timer; and (ii) the pitcher to begin his windup or motion to come to a set position before the 20-second timer expires (the pitch itself does not need to be thrown before the expiration of the timer). The timer will never be used on the first pitch of any at-bat and will begin running prior to the second pitch when the pitcher receives the ball from the catcher.

how has it affected base-stealing and pickoffs in the minors? anyone know?

with runners on, the clock stops when the pitcher comes set. you can stay in the set position as long as you want, so the runner(s) can't time it

ahhh

i guess this could be a thing, but i have not heard any complaints about it in the minors

So the pitch clock almost incentives batters to not stand in until five seconds are remaining. Get your practice hacks in, ice the pitcher, and then make him rush, etc.

— Travis Sawchik (@Travis_Sawchik) February 22, 2019

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/foul-balls-are-the-pace-of-play-problem-nobodys-talking-about/

Another 538 piece. Nate Silver's prescription for too many strikeouts/pitchers and slow pace of play: 10-man staff plus one "emergency" pitcher.

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/relievers-have-broken-baseball-we-have-a-plan-to-fix-it/

mlb announced an agreement with the independent atlantic league in which the latter will serve as a testing ground for various rules and perhaps equipment changes.

no timetable or specific changes have been mentioned yet, but i think at some point we're gonna see them test what happens when you move the mound back a couple feet. (i'm not sure how effective this will be because i doubt there are too many guys with a mid-90s fastball pitching in the atlantic league)

I was looking to see how far back they are moving it — is it really two feet? That seems extreme.

don't know any specifics, but 3% doesn't seem like an outrageous place to start testing

two feet would just seem to radically alter a hitter's read on breaking pitches especially, if it's that much I would expect offensive numbers to go through the roof

yeah two feet would be nuts. maybe a couple of inches - I think the issue is that it's not really physically possible to identify and hit a 105 mph fastball, right?

fwiw, i watched jordan hicks throw quite a few 103, 104, 105 mph pitches last year, with very few strikeouts. even at 60'6", hitters seemed able to at least make contact.

New Atlantic League rules in some detail: http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/26190498/robot-umps-shift-ban-coming-atlantic-league

• Extending the distance between the pitching rubber from 60 feet, 6 inches to 62 feet, 6 inches in the second half of the season

^Again this seems so completely OTT! I think I could bunt my way close to with the Mendoza line at that distance

"we're experimenting with raising the height of the rim to 12 feet"

on the one hand moving the mound midseason seems like a jarring change for players
on the other hand it would provide much better data for people evaluating how moving the mound would affect the game, because you'd have two samples with roughly the same players in similar gameshape, rather than two separate sesaons
on the other hand it seems kinda rude to MLB teams with atlantic league teams, because they have to deal with both their pitchers/hitters making changes to their technique/timing

no MLB teams have atlantic league teams, it's an independent league

nice! that leaves me with two hands again

whoa, i didn't realize there were all these other new rules in the atlantic league, too (i should have read hadrian's link):

The slate of rule changes to be implemented in the Atlantic League are as follows:

Home plate umpire assisted in calling balls and strikes by a TrackMan radar tracking system.
No mound visits permitted by players or coaches other than for pitching changes or medical issues.
Pitchers must face a minimum of three batters, or reach the end of an inning before they exit the game, unless the pitcher becomes injured.
Increase the size of 1st, 2nd and 3rd base from 15 inches square to 18 inches square.
Require two infielders to be on each side of second base when a pitch is released (if not, the ball is dead and the umpire shall call a ball).
Time between innings and pitching changes reduced from 2:05 to 1:45.
Distance from pitching rubber to home plate extended 24 inches, in the second half of the season only; with no change to mound height or shape.

Time between innings and pitching changes reduced from 2:05 to 1:45.

^ this would be great but seems highly unlikely

Wouldn't moving the mound back shorten leads and discourage base stealing? Pick-off attempts will come at a shallower angle, seems like that would cut down on runners going first-to-third, taking an extra base, etc.

I just can't believe they are even considering monkeying with the geometry of the game like this! I mean just lower the mound again if you want more contact/action.

Lots of @mlb rule changes for 2019 and 2020: pic.twitter.com/Bn89KReec0

— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) March 14, 2019

ok pitching to a minimum of three hitters or until the end of a half inning makes this more palatable

Only five mound visits now instead of six--they're getting serious about speeding things up.

"Position players will be prohibited from pitching in games that don’t go into extra innings, unless a team is ahead or behind by at least eight runs." - i mean, fine, but i don't really get why this has to be a rule

I think it has something to do w/ preventing teams from manipulating the new pitcher/position player designations?

Elimination of 40 player roster, too!

Interesting changes! I'm really excited to see how the relief pitcher / opener rules pan out (in 2020).

No more waiver trades too! The trade deadline just got even more exciting.

The fact that the 40-man Sept. roster expansion doesn't reduce to 28 until 2020 increases Tim Tebow's chances of being a big leaguer.

— JJ Cooper (@jjcoop36) March 14, 2019

I call this "overmanaging"

playing Seymour Skinner re position players pitching particularly

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/mlb-announces-major-rule-changes-for-2019-and-2020/

A commenter asks:

"Not that this will be [a frequent] occurrence but I’m still waiting to see how it will be handled if a team makes two mound visits before a pitcher faces three batters. We would have one rule requiring the pitcher be removed from the game and another stating that he is not allowed to be removed. Is baseball just broken at that point?"

Oof.

What about a pitcher feigning injury? We know it doesn't count as a mound visit. But will it also allow managers to skirt 3-hitter rule? Will said pitcher be obliged to do a DL stint? So much unnecessary dumbness.

dl il stint

supposedly the three-batter rule will be implemented in the (affiliated) minors this season. i don't think it will come up too much, though -- there aren't really minor league LOOGYs or convoluted platoon matches because the games don't mean anything

RIP pitch clock?

yeah :/

seems like overkill

MLB is at Nationals’ camp today workshopping a new communication device for pitchers and catchers. It would allow catchers to type a pitch call (with location) into a watch that is connected to a watch the pitcher is wearing on the mound. An effort to eliminate sign-stealing.

— Jesse Dougherty (@dougherty_jesse) March 18, 2019

ugh

real galaxy brain shit right there

sign stealing is the best

a good way to speed up the game is to have the catcher text the pitcher on his apple watch before every pitch

yeah wtf

a century from now MLB will have "evolved" into 162 home run derbies + a midseason "old school" classic w base running, fielding, etc

classy

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D2wy5U4WkAAuvkb.jpg

the shark has pearly teeth

apparently the mound will *not* be moved back in the atlantic league this season after all

good news for new long island duck jon niese

that did seem the most harebrained

thought this was a joke; apparently it is not

Atlantic League announce 4 new rules:
Pitcher required to step off the rubber in order to attempt a pickoff.
1 foul bunt is permitted with 2 strikes before strikeout is called.
Check swing rule made more batter friendly.
Batters may steal 1st on any pitch not caught by catcher.

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) July 11, 2019

why WHY

is the foul bunt rule meant to encourage more bunting? seems odd

also, embarrassed to not know for sure, but i thought a pitcher was already required to step off the rubber before a pickoff?

If on the rubber, the motion has to be directed entirely toward a single base. i.e. home, first, etc

i think i was confused my the rules in my childhood league - i was always required to step off the rubber. i remember vividly because i got several balks called on me and had no idea wtf was going on

i will never pay to see a "stealing first" league game

i guess some of this might somehow yield more ~action on the bases~

insofar as it does, it would also make the games longer

Yeah Karl I remember something similar. the MLB rules allow for that classic leftie pick-off move where they lift their right leg up but you don't know yet which way they're going.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/27405556/yanks-boone-worth-exploring-mlb-mercy-rule

I might be in favour of a mercy rule of some sort, mainly because of the risk of someone getting hurt.

i wouldn't necessarily be against a mercy rule, but have we actually seen position players get hurt pitching? (and if so, that's on the managers -- no one's forcing them not to use real pitchers)

I guess it's more the risk of any player getting hurt in a game where the score is lopsided and the guys just want to get the hell out of there (on both sides). Much like the Buster Posey and Chase Utley rules, one serious injury could be enough to get the rules changed, e.g. Mike Trout getting injured by an errant pitch in a 15-1 game. You can't sit everybody even once the score gets out of hand.

what are the best single game comebacks in mlb history?

i assume if a game ends in, say, the 5th inning on the mercy rule, all the fans get 4 innings worth of ticket price refunded, right? RIGHT?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EQmqqA_X0AI5Ia3?format=jpg&name=large

RIP loogies everywhere

Any difference between these and the three-batter/roster expansion stuff announced last year? Or is this just the formalization of it?

just the formalization, i think, although the reduction in challenge time is new. i'll be surprised if that one is actually enforced

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/new-pickoff-rule-coming-to-minors-after-indy-ball-success-in-2019

Double plays also dropped from .82 per game to .63 per game with the new rules.

With that and the upped SBs would this mean longer games?

oh my yes.

idk, i'm not really against this. lefties are pretty much balking on every throw over

saw a (maybe collegiate?) umpire praising it -- with a guy on first in two-man umpire crews, the field ump is out by second and neither he nor the HP ump have an angle to judge a lefty's balk. but if they have to step off the rubber first, that can be seen

Yeah i don’t mind it - seems like rubber should equal “locked in for home”

seems fine to me, too. those were the rules in my day (back when i manned the keystone for the san diego padres in the late 70s with my friend and doubleplay partner ozzie smith), and for a very long time i wasn't aware that the rules were any different for pros

btw (almost all of) the high-a florida state league will have robo ball/strike calls this year. mlb's current agreement with the umpires, which covers the next five years, allows for its implementation in the majors, so i think we can anticipate that happening before the deal ends, at the latest

more controversially, i think mlb will indeed soon adopt the guy-on-second extra-inning rule; i hope george will's estate is in order

that last wd be abominable

a stopped Will is right once a lifetime

a stopped Will is right once a lifetime

MLB announces experimental playing rules to be tested during 2021 minor league regular season. pic.twitter.com/oRriW7TItH

— emilycwaldon (@EmilyCWaldon) March 11, 2021

big bases and automatic balls and strikes - yes

the rest - trash

it'll be really interesting to see the effect of the larger bases on stolen bases and infield singles, etc. seems like a full AAA season's worth of that would be a large enough sample to predict the effect on MLB as well

i think they need to do various things to the rules to slow the direction of the game into exclusively being about strikeouts, walks and homers. as entertainment i don't think baseball is headed in the right direction. things like pitcher velocity and organizational philosophies about the most valuable styles of play are harder to change but i'm in favor of them curbing shifts to open the field back up and these little minute changes to try and encourage some more running

I think the instant replay is a big culprit for killing the sb, since we can now see everytime someone pops off the base by a mm for half a second.

don't understand the obsession with stolen bases. i do wish there were more again, but idk why they're the first thing brought up when people talk about the strikeout/juiced ball era - i miss "defense" in general much more than i miss SBs

the big positive in this imo is "and determine the optimal strike zone for the system." i know there was a lot of talk about ABS calling a massive strike zone so it's good if they're willing to tinker with it

if they want to avoid 1B collisions though just do the double base thing from softball

Also the drinking between innings from softball. Will help you go limp in case of a collision.

we can reinstitute beer kegs at third base to encourage balls in play

keeping infielders in place seems fine to me

I'm resistant to the idea of pickoff limitations, timers (antithetical to baseball), and any pace-of-play stuff. It's baseball! Proceed at your own pace!

agreed

i kinda thought the shift would lead to more varied, less pull-happy swings, but it never really happened

a surefire way to increase action on the basepaths is of course to deaden the ball to some unspecified degree but hahahahahaha

i think over time ... like 5-10 years ... players would adjust how they hit for the shift, forcing a counter by defenses and thus rebalancing things a bit. but i'm down with MLB being like, it's better for balls to fall in the field of play for hits and we're not going to wait on natural regression to fix this

but it would be better for the game to have hits land in all parts of the field and not just crushed for power (or be swung on and missed - which is the other thing that happens when you “cheat” on a pitch to try and wrap your bat around it) - the broadcast booth always waxes on interminably about contact hitting and inside-out swings and “going with” the pitch but i think they’re not wrong and it’s weird that wouldn’t translate into actual support in the rules for that style of play

tracer they're deadening the ball this year!

eh??!

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/mlb-planning-small-changes-to-deaden-the-baseball-for-2021-season-per-report/amp/

i think over time ... like 5-10 years ... players would adjust how they hit for the shift, forcing a counter by defenses and thus rebalancing things a bit.

teams have been shifting for a decade now and i think what we're seeing *is* the adjustment. if they need a man on base, people like freddie freeman or j.d. martinez will drop a bunt down to third every once in a while, but they and their teams have concluded that when every pitcher has a 98mph fastball, it's too hard to string together three singles to score a run. better to try to hit the ball in the air and hope it goes out.

(also the way players are rewarded incentivizes dingers as opposed to inside-out swings.)

maybe a deadened ball will lead to more warning-track outs and a change in philosophy. but i think the issue is less the shift than the fact that pitchers are throwing so much harder than they were even 10-15 years ago, and even lowering the mound won't help with that. when tony gwynn was asked whether he preferred to face fastballs or off-speed stuff, he chose the latter, because it gave him more time to see the pitch.

we might soon be reaching the limits of how hard people can physically throw baseballs, but i think ultimately they're gonna have to move the rubber back, and i'm not sure anyone has the appetite for that

this feels like the key

stringing together multiple hits in an inning is so difficult

there's still no telling how much the ball is actually being "deadened", and meredith wills (who's been researching this for years now) suggested the changes might actually make the balls livelier

i don't have a BP subscription but this article apparently suggests the same thing

Since we are brainstorming here, and I do like the idea of moving back the rubber, what about reducing the size of the strike zone?

that shouldn't even be controversial, it's been getting bigger and bigger over the past decade

i guess they're paving the way with the (slightly) larger bases, but moving the rubber back would be an incredible clusterfuck. rip george will yet again

no doubt manfred sees it as an opportunity to split the union; he's probably right

https://www.theringer.com/mlb/2021/3/15/22331075/pitching-mound-move-distance

The Atlantic League, a minor league hotbed for innovation in baseball, will announce plans Wednesday to move the pitcher’s mound back 12 inches from home plate this season, according to two people with knowledge of the arrangement. The move represents one of the most stark rule changes proposed by baseball leadership in a generation and comes amid sweeping changes on the minor league level designed to reduce home runs and strikeouts and increase the action from batter to batter.

The eight-team Atlantic League, which has franchises along the East Coast, will enact the change during the second half of its 120-game regular season, one person familiar with the matter said. It will be the first change of mound regulations in professional baseball since 1969, when MLB lowered the mound after a season in which seven starting pitchers posted sub-2.00 ERAs.

Not sure how this would reduce home runs

I wonder what the average game time is when total runs are >20.

Feels like this should be an injury risk for pitchers somehow? 20 years of muscle memory (and actual muscle) being disrupted almost overnight?

i said it in the general thread, but i’m a big fan of 7 inning games. managers have to be more aggressive - more bunts, get things happening. you don’t just sit back waiting for the homers.

You ever see a post and think man I wish morbs was here to respond to that

haha oh man he’d throw a beer at my head and i’d love it. sorry morbs - the game’s changed! 9 innings were good in the 50s. 7’s good now. unless somebody has a better way to both create more action on the basepaths and bring game times under three hours.

- more aggressive managing
- more pressure to score
- more complete games from starting pitchers
- games last 2.5 hrs

how to speed up games - batters roll a 12-sided die to determine the count they start with.

right on top of home plate

If you’re going that route I’d rather see it more extreme. Get games down to 1:15.

Foul balls caught in the stands - out
Two strikes - out, but five balls to a walk
Runners can advance on any fair batted ball without tagging up

Easy to get outs but when the ball is in play it’s faster and more exciting.

Too bad speedball has a negative connotation.

i’ve said this before but my dad always said home runs should be foul balls. you’ve hit it outside the field of play.

Reward steals with an extra base. Take second, get third.

But only in odd numbered innings.

i’m serious about 7 inning games. They’re good.

I'm serious about all of the above (in a new sport alongside traditional baseball), I think they'd make it exciting as hell, like rugby sevens vs. regular rugby.

yes i’m talking about the sport of baseball in case that wasn’t clear.

with 7 inning games you could also dispense with the runner on second in extras, which actually does fuck with the internals of the game in the way you’re describing.

I think you're underestimating how much eliminating 22% of outs fucks with the internals of the game.

i don’t think i am. but i guess we’ll never know!

i’ve listed some big changes to the internals upthread. i consider them improvements.

Idk if I like the idea of eliminating 2 innings in an era full of relievers who can throw 105 mph strikes, feel like a big market team could dump truckloads of money at those guys and win 110 games

I do like the 3 inning/9 outs idea though. Everyone gets a turn!!

pfft come on that’s just rounders

But what if everyone got exactly three turns?

Baseboxing - throw hands if tagging isn't feasible

Peter Abraham reports:

There are a group of veteran pitchers who call their own games and MLB is expected to approve a PitchCom-type device that would allow the pitcher to signal to the catcher what he plans to throw or change pitches without shaking heads. It will be experimented with in spring training

Feels like at that point sign stealing by electronic means ought to be allowed, and then it can be a battle of the hackers

Give the fans what they want

... if you want to torment Joey Gallo, you can still torment Joey Gallo. You just risk a lot more than a single if he goes to LF. pic.twitter.com/EMBvuXQjzd

— Mike Petriello (@mike_petriello) September 10, 2022

i agree w this guy’s argument that this isn’t actually a huge rule change but what i don’t understand is how this creates more risk/reward in shifting. why would teams now start shifting their outfields in this extreme way? something i’m not getting?

Breaking: MLB’s Joint Competition Committee has voted unanimously to make the extra inning rule permanent for all regular season games moving forward. (2023 and beyond). A runner will be placed at second base at the start of every extra inning. Story coming at espn

— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) February 13, 2023

i like it. no more cool stories about how the game went to the 22nd inning and it was horrible for everyone involved, but otherwise, in addition to cutting down on game time, it adds some tension to every extra inning

still not sure how it speeds up games, given that both teams get the same "advantage" but i'm sure that was all litigated last year

The competition committee also voted unanimously to allow position players to pitch only in extra innings, in the ninth inning when leading team is up by 10 or more runs or anytime when the trailing team is down by 8 or more.

— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) February 13, 2023

runs per nine innings of regular baseball is (for both teams) 8-something; with the runner starting on second it’s 20-something

I don't like it--for me, it just bends the basic game out of shape too much. And even though this is demonstrably not true, it always feels like the road team has an advantage (i.e., my guess is the home team is playing from behind more often than not).

Why fucking limit when position players can pitch?! It’s not like teams are doing this for fun. Also won’t this really inhibit any more two-way players?

won’t this really inhibit any more two-way players?

nah

Only heard a few days ago that they're going to go back to strictly enforcing the balk rule(s) this year. 1) I hope Gausman's not affected too much--there was a game last year where the home-plate ump was just lying in wait for him. 2) They did this one year in the late '80s and it was crazy; balks went up by a few hundred percent, then they ditched that and everything went back to normal the next season.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fpwi3bnX0AEZHrp?format=jpg&name=900x900

if this is what it's going to look like in ML parks... i hate this

i know i'm not representative of the general population but my brain is genuinely incapable of tuning something like that out, it's going to be a nonstop battle to keep my attention on the plate

San Diego Padres star Manny Machado committed the first pitch-clock violation in a spring-training game, getting docked a strike because he was not set and facing the pitcher in the batter's box when the clock reached 8 seconds.

that’s not good

plenty of other sports have time limits on things like foul shots and snaps and there
is zero reason to ever present that information to the viewer

xpost

enforcing the rule IS good imo

Yeah I support the pitch clock but I don't want to be aware of it ever

From the sound of it it barely even registered in the minors once the players got used to it

i am pretty sure that, if any stadium includes the pitch clock indicator in the view of the tv cameras, they'll change that quickly

Just turned into MLB Network and they called someone out or third strike for not being ready. 6 -6 bottom of the ninth. Braves vs Red Sox.

Wow

Small sample but through 10 spring training games the average time of game is 2h 34m. That last time MLB games were faster for a season was 1978 (2h30m).

— Travis Sawchik (@Travis_Sawchik) February 25, 2023

This is a person who has never watched ST baseball:

Do you happen to know what the average time was for spring training games? I have always felt like they were quicker than regular season games.

— Dan Schrage (@DSchrage) February 25, 2023

Cal Conley does not get set in time and gets called for the strikeout and the game ends pic.twitter.com/rQ8KOv0Sa6

— Gaurav (@gvedak) February 25, 2023

i mean...arguably just get in the box and be ready with 8 seconds to go imo

well this sucks

https://www.mlb.com/news/luis-garcia-to-adjust-windup-due-to-2023-rule-changes

For those concerned that the pitch clock is so prominent in the background of at-bats during spring-training games: The plan in big league ballparks is for it to be out of view of the center-field camera. In other words: TV viewers will not see the physical clock during pitches.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 25, 2023

cherry picked clips, of course, but

Landon Knack throwing an entire half inning vs. Pedro Báez throwing 1 pitch. pic.twitter.com/wHa2p6K7k8

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) February 27, 2023

Yankees relief pitcher Wandy Peralta struck out a hitter in 20 seconds pic.twitter.com/VwEBzyXH99

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) March 2, 2023

i love it! and you know what i think i’m going to love it in the post-season too. bring on the craziness.

yeah the pitch clock seems good so far. there are going to be some dumb controversial calls at crucial moments ("how can a playoff game end this way" etc) but the games i've watched seem a lot peppier for sure

Max Scherzer, Pitch Clock Gamesmanship.

Long hold. Adams takes his only time out.

Then Max stays set so he can pitch as soon as Adams is ready. pic.twitter.com/3uj9ucDFEl

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 3, 2023

Gausman and the balk rule (paywall maybe, not sure):

https://theathletic.com/4277023/2023/03/06/kevin-gausman-delivery-rule-change-balks/

"...it’s a problem for Gausman, because he’s currently starring in a not-so-major motion picture from MLB’s new 'Mess with Your Dreamworks' studios.

It’s a little video feature, shown by MLB to managers and media alike this spring, on now-illegal pitching deliveries. And it stars Gausman, along with Houston righty Luis Garcia, as toe-tappers or false-starters whose old delivery is now considered by MLB to be a balk."

I’m watching a spring training game in which 9 runs have already scored, and we’re heading into the bottom of the 7th, and just passed 2 hours of game time. This shit appears to be working

That Scherzer clip above is so funny. What a maniac!

watching white sox/a’s spring training game and the chyron has the pitch clock but not the number of outs

The Tigers and Guardians played a doubleheader in four hours, 13 minutes.

!!

https://www.espn.co.uk/mlb/story/_/id/36226372/mlb-eyes-more-rule-changes-experiment-atlantic-league

Thoughts?

overkill, by a lot

Love baseball’s commitment to bad science

i don’t understand why lowering the mound 6 inches is never on the cards

good long article on ABS. this jumped out at me:

Until recently, the technology and application had been substandard -- including a previous version, used in the 2019 Arizona Fall League, that was laughably bad, with curveballs that clipped the bottom front of the zone hitting the plate and being called strikes. MLB scuttled that three-dimensional zone for 2D, upgraded to the Hawk-Eye system best known for its incredibly accurate line-calling in tennis and installed a dozen cameras calibrated to the fixed items on the field -- home plate and the chalked baselines -- that capture the flight of the ball at 330 frames per second.

does that mean the strike zone is no longer defined as a pentagonal solid??

sorry, link: https://www.espn.com/mlb/insider/insider/story/_/id/37721995/robo-umps-automated-balls-strikes-abs-future-mlb-minor-leagues

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/how-have-the-new-rules-changed-the-game/

so far, mostly good, it seems.

...For the most part, I think MLB’s rule changes have been a success. The main observable change is tempo; games are lasting less time despite a similar amount of action. That’s a big change, and as measured by pitch violations, it hasn’t excessively affected any particular team or player. Instead, the game is just moving faster, which was the stated goal of the changes.

Changing the rules to increase stolen bases seems to have worked roughly as expected: Teams are running more frequently and with more success. Those steals aren’t making the game unrecognizable, though; we’re talking about an extra half a steal per game, give or take. I think there was reason to worry whether steals would become undefendable, but the evidence suggests that hasn’t happened. Catchers who control the running game are more valuable than in recent years, but that’s also hardly an unwelcome change. For the most part, I think that the extra steals leave the game looking like a slightly faster version of itself, just like the pitch timer changes.

On the downside, the new restrictions on infield shifts haven’t accomplished much of anything. Lefties are reaching base more frequently when they put the ball on the ground, but not at pre-shift rates. Defensive positioning is still taking hits away, particularly in the middle of the field. Righty batters still have a slight BABIP advantage on lefties thanks to infield positioning. If the league wants to fix that disparity, there will have to be stricter shift restrictions, probably centered around keeping the area behind second base empty.

If you were hoping for mostly the same baseball, congratulations: you’ve got it. If you were hoping for teams to start prioritizing speedy lefty singles hitters, or for batters to start trying to keep the ball on the ground to take advantage of the new defensive restrictions, that hasn’t panned out. Teams are scoring more this year, but that’s mostly unrelated to rules changes. I think that’s great; from my perspective, the league has threaded the needle by affecting how games look without putting their thumb on the scale of offensive and defensive balance.

There was an observation on EW about how the BA points gained by LH batters are lost in the aggregate because teams ALSO cant shift against righties, which reenforces the belief that shifting righties doesn’t really work

My favorite thing about the pitch clock is that there's no time to replay the pitch I just saw. Keep the camera on the action, such as it is.

They've gotten better at showing replays within the allotted time, gave them fits at the beginning of the year

Braves aren't showing replays on balls in play if they're just groundouts or flyouts. Arcia just went out to short center to make a nice over the shoulder catch, no replay. I'm really loving this -- it more closely matches the experience of being at the park.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5961016/2024/12/02/golden-at-bat-rule-mlb/

am i just getting old, or is this the stupidest thing ever?

Is both an option?

(Teasing. Yeah, I think it's silly)

"both" is fair.

Take it another step and have a designated Golden Batter - who is never allowed to play any other role and no one else can be GB. Owners have to pay a guy $5 million for 162 PAs.

incredible to me that jayson stark managed/was allowed to turn this horseshit idea into a 5000-word article. is he actually being paid by the word

Almost every time I see Freeman, he knows I have some inspired idea to run by him. So he was ready to poke holes in this one, in that good-natured Freddie Freeman way of his.

fuck you and fuck your editor

what editor

I am not qualified and barely motivated to post about baseball at all, and after reading this hogwash I felt the need to seek out ILB to complain about this dumb shit

"Golden At-Bat" just doesn't seem magical enough; I'm thinking something like the "Willy Wonka Rule."

Take it another step and have a designated Golden Batter - who is never allowed to play any other role and no one else can be GB. Owners have to pay a guy $5 million for 162 PAs.

This isn't a bad idea -- it could be a way to keep veteran hitters in the game, like in the days when teams had roster space for pinch-hitting specialists because they weren't carrying 13 pitchers.

But a rule that might allow hitters to potentially bat twice in a row ... no no no no no.

in 1998 the yankees basically had this with tim raines. he’d pop off the bench, drive in a run. over and over

someone was trying to explain this to me last night and my thought was "he must be misremembering some details because this sounds dumb as hell"

it's a constant frustration for some dingdongs that the highest leverage moment of the season might be a face-off between say jackson kowar and diego cartaya

when actually real heads love this

like you don’t get one of key things that makes baseball distinct if you want to deprive mark bellinghorn of his big moment

if i can't see the Brett Phillips of the world make unexpected, life affirming, game winning hits then i don't know if i want to watch baseball anymore

If there'd been a Golden At-Bat rule, he'd just be plain old Bucky Dent.

it seems like all of this discussion is happening bc six weeks ago rob manfred said on a podcast that someone at an owner's meeting brought up the potential idea of the golden at-bat. i.e. it doesn't seem like it's actually being seriously considered or likely to happen.

francisco cabrera

^^^fp'd

The Short Happy Life of the Golden At-Bat.

https://www.mlb.com/news/commissioner-rob-manfred-says-there-are-no-plans-for-golden-at-bat

if i can't see the Brett Phillips of the world make unexpected, life affirming, game winning hits

See I'd just forgotten this and then you go and bring it up

Glad they scrapped the golden at-bat, now bring back pitchers hitting.

^^^

The first rule in the book states:

1.00–OBJECTIVES OF THE GAME
1.01 Baseball is a game between two teams of nine players each, under
direction of a manager, played on an enclosed field in accordance
with these rules, under jurisdiction of one or more umpire

Lineup cards have had 10 slots since 1973 for the AL, and for all of MLB since 2022.