Rule changes will up excitement once season starts

Perhaps you didn’t notice but today is Opening Day. At least it was Opening Day. Anyone who enjoys our national pastime thrills annually at each team’s opener. The game itself is only 1/162nd of the season but it always seems like so much more when it’s accompanied by bands, balloons ceremonies and — in some cities — a parade. For a baseball fan it’s a little bit of heaven.

Heaven is at least on hold this year while we try to deal with a hell caused by a tiny little virus that none of us understands. We know only that it’s deadly and must be dealt with very seriously.

We don’t know for sure if there will even be an Opening Day, and if there is we don’t know when that will be or what the format will be of the season that follows.

But there are a few things that we do know. Whenever baseball is able to resume it will be a brand new ballgame. The ball will be slightly different with raised seams to create more drag and probably reduce the number of home runs. There will also be a new rules package that will have an impact on the way the game is played.

For most of the season teams will be permitted to carry 26 players on the roster — one more than in the past. Whenever a doubleheader is scheduled each team will be allowed to add a 27th player. On Sept. 1 roster size will expand to 28, which is a significant change. In the past each team could carry 40 in September.

During the bulk of the season, when roster size is capped at 26, no more than 13 of those players may be pitchers. Players not designated as pitchers may pitch, but only in extra innings or if their team is trailing by six runs or more. There will no longer be a 10day injury list for pitchers. If a pitcher goes on the injury list he must remain there a minimum of 15 days.

There is a complicated set of rules for players like Shohei Ohtani and Michael Lorenzen who are more than just pitchers. Those “two-way players” will become more valuable since they are not counted as one of the 13 pitchers on the roster.

For the most part, however, managers will have to make do with just 13 pitchers, which is a reduction from recent seasons when teams typically carried 14. That creates a spot for one more position player. Combine that fact with the new 26-player roster and every team will have two more players on the bench than it had last year. Managers will have the opportunity to maneuver in ways that their predecessors did 10 or 20 years ago.

We might see some clubs platoon somewhere in the lineup. Some might carry a veteran player whose primary function is to pinch hit. Or a young speedster capable of pinch running and playing late-inning defense. Some might even find it prudent to carry three catchers.

We probably will see instances where an announced pinch hitter triggers a pitching change, which in turn causes a manager to pinch hit for his pinch hitter. That used to be a common occurrence. Now it might become one once again.

Speaking of pitching changes that brings us to the most far-reaching rule change of all. When a pitcher enters a game he must either complete the inning in which he enters or pitch to a minimum of three batters. The “oneand-done” reliever — usually a left-hander who comes in to pitch to the other team’s lefthanded slugger — has been legislated into near extinction.

Of course, every team’s bullpen will still feature some left-handers whose main purpose is to pitch in critical situations with left-handers batting for the opposition. But those pitchers will be of limited use if their only skill is to pitch to lefties.

Picture this situation: The team that trails in the game has two runners on base with two out and a dangerous lefthanded batter scheduled to hit. In the past that would be a no-brainer. A left-handed relief specialist would come into the game. Now the decision is not so easy, especially if there’s a good right-handed hitter on deck.

If the manager brings a lefty in from the bullpen he creates his most favorable matchup for the moment. If his relief pitcher retires the other team’s lefty the inning is over and he can bring a new pitcher in to start the next inning. But, if the relief pitcher fails to retire the lefty the manager is in a bigger jam and stuck with that said lefty pitching to the other team’s right-hander.

So, what’s the right move? There’s no easy answer. Decisions like that put pressure on the manager. They also make the game fun.

That’s why I can’t wait for Opening Day — whenever it comes.

Hall of Fame voter Jay Dunn has written baseball for 52 years. Contact him at jaydunn8@aol.com