New rules could drastically alter look, length of MLB games
Oh yeah, change is coming. “I think the biggest thing,”
Padres infielder Jake Cronenworth said, “is that it went from one end of the spectrum, where there was nothing, to completely opposite end of the spectrum, where now it’s an extreme.”
Spring training games begin Friday, and that is when we will begin to see just how extreme the lengths to which Major League Baseball has gone to, in the words of Commissioner Rob Manfred, “make a great product even better.”
Baseball’s languid pace and ever-the-sameness are held by many to be what make the game such a romantic pursuit. The basic rules and regulations of the game have remained almost entirely unchanged practically since the dawn of it being played professionally.
Suddenly, three major alterations to how the game has been played will be in place for the 2023 season.
The rule changes were made with the aim of quickening pace of play and shortening games, promoting action (offense) and enhancing safety.
“We think the changes are going to produce a crisp, more exciting game,” Manfred said. “More balls in play, and I think the athleticism of our great athletes will shine through. It’s not about changing the game; it’s about making sure we put the best form of baseball on the field.”
Most in the game agree that some changes had to be made. Some just feel it was a bit much all at once.
“There’s gonna be a lot,” Padres manager Bob Melvin said. “It’s a lot of rules to acclimate to in a short amount of time. Everybody has to go through it, but it seems like a lot to throw all these in in one season.”
We’ll see.
Pitch clock
Baseball loves its timelessness. But it had to do something to make its game more appealing in today’s 280-character, shortattention-span culture.
The average game took 3 hours, 6 minutes in 2022, down five minutes from an all-time high of 3:11 in ‘21 but 15 minutes longer than the average game in 1990 and 28 minutes longer than in 1980.
So the game that has for so long been so proud of its lack of clocks will have a lot of them — two behind home plate and one in the outfield counting down the seconds before a pitch must be delivered.
There will be 30 seconds allowed between batters, and pitchers will have 15 seconds between pitches with the bases empty and 20 seconds with runners on. The timer begins when the pitcher receives the ball, and pitchers must begin their delivery before the clock expires. A violation results in a ball being called.
The clock will abbreviate between-pitch downtime for batters as well. They must be in the box and “alert” to the pitcher with eight seconds remaining on the clock. A violation will result in a strike being called.
This could produce the most noticeable change in the box score.
The minor leagues employed a clock last season that allowed 14 and 18 seconds between pitches. Average game length decreased by 25 minutes.
Key to this change is that the clock resets when a pitcher steps off the mound. So pitchers are now allowed to “disengage” (step off or attempt a pickoff) from the mound just twice per plate appearance. A pitcher is allowed a third pickoff attempt, but if it does not result in an out, the runner is awarded a base.
“The disengagements
(rule) is radical,” Rockies manager Bud Black said.
First, the restrictions on pitchers has the potential to greatly alter the running game. In the minor leagues, steal attempts and success rate increased slightly.
Second, pitchers now have less time between pitches. For some, like Padres reliever Tim Hill, who was the fastest worker in the majors with runners on base, it won’t be a big deal. For closers pitching in the ninth inning with a game on the line, it will be a bigger challenge.
Same for starters who are working deep in games.
Joe Musgrove’s adjusted average time between pitches with nobody on base was 10.9 seconds in 2022. But that swung wildly as the game went on — generally from less than 10 second to 15 seconds in the first couple innings to around 20 seconds in the sixth and beyond. In that pitchers often use more time even with the bases empty later in games in an effort to maintain velocity, the expectation is some pitchers will see a dip in how hard they throw.
“I put a big emphasis on the cardio and durability aspect of my training and ensure that the endurance and stuff especially with the little adjustments in the pitch clock,” Musgrove said. “You never know how that’s going to affect your body.”
Pitchers began working with a clock in the offseason to get used to what 15 and 20 seconds actually felt like.