White Sox ace role there for the taking by Giolito
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Pitchless intentional walks could start in spring training games this week.
Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said Tuesday the change, which the players’ association has said it will agree to for 2017, is among rule changes that have been distributed to teams.
Planned modifications to video review rules for this season include a 30-second time limit for managers to request a review, and a two-minute limit for the review umpire in New York to make a decision — unless a supervisor in the replay room gives permission for the umpire to take longer.
Under the change to the intentional walk rule, a team can signal for an intentional walk without pitches being thrown. Manfred said Major League Baseball staff has been going over the changes with teams, and the new intentional walk rule probably will go into effect this week.
Wanting to speed the pace of play, management also discussed raising the lower edge of the strike zone from just beneath the kneecap to its pre1996 level at the top of the kneecap, the installation of pitch clocks and limits on trips to the pitcher’s mound.
The players’ union said it will not agree to changes in those areas this year. Under baseball’s labor contract, management can make unilateral changes to playing rules only with one year advance notice. pitching, you know, pitching approach, how to go about atbats, throwing curveball for a strike and making sure to hit certain locations on certain guys’ scouting reports,” said Giolito, who pitched two innings of one-run ball in his spring debut against the Cubs on Monday.
“I learned all that information, but at the same time I learned from my failures in the sense of I learned it’s super important to slow the game down when things start to speed up at the big league level. It’s way harder. Things can get out of control faster.”
The White Sox saw enough to make Giolito the centerpiece of their package from Washington for outfielder Adam Eaton. Minor leaguers Renaldo Lopez and Dane Dunning also came over in the deal.
Helping Giolito deliver on his considerable potential is a big part of Chicago’s plans after four consecutive losing seasons for the team.