NEW YORK (AP) – Major League Baseball adopted its first pitch clock, defensive shift limits and bigger bases for next season in an effort to shorten games and increase offense in a traditional sport .
The decision on clock and shift restrictions by the sport’s 11-man competition committee was made Friday in the face of unanimous opposition from the panel’s players, who approved the larger rules. The changes had long been pushed by baseball commissioner Rob Manfred in an effort to combat the four-decade increase in timeouts and the stifling of offense in the age of analytics.
“Throughout extensive testing over the past few years, minor league personnel and a wide range of fans, from the most loyal to the casual observer, have recognized the collective impact of these changes in making the game to be even better and more enjoyable,” Manfred said in a statement.
Until last winter, MLB required a year’s notice to make changes to the field rules without the approval of the players’ association. The union agreed in the March settlement agreement to establish the committee, which includes six management representatives, four players and an umpire.
“The players live the game, day after day. Field rules and regulations affect their preparation, their performance and ultimately the integrity of the game itself,” the union said in a statement. “Major League Baseball was unwilling to meaningfully address the areas of concern raised by the players.”
The pitch clock will be set at 15 seconds with no runners on base and 20 seconds with runners, up from 14/19 tested in Triple-A this season and 14/18 at lower minor league levels.
There will be a limit of two of what MLB calls strikeouts (attempts to pick up or drop the rubber) per plate appearance, and a strikeout would be called for a third or more unless there is an out. The snap limit would be reset if a runner advances.
It will require a catcher to be in the catcher’s box with nine seconds on the clock and a batter to be in the batter’s box and focused on the pitcher with eight seconds left. Penalties for violations shall be a called ball against a pitcher and a marked strike against a batter.
A batter may request time from an umpire once per plate appearance, after which it would only be granted at the umpire’s discretion if the request is made while in the batter’s box.
The clock has helped cut the average time of a nine-inning game in the minor leagues from 3 hours, 4 minutes in 2021 to 2:38 this season. The average time for a nine-inning game in the major leagues this year is 3:06; it was 2:46 in 1989, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
The changeover limit requires two outfielders to be on either side of second and all infielders to be within the outfield boundary when the pitcher is on the rubber, and infielders may not switch sides unless there is a substitution.
The use of turns has increased in the past decade, from 2,357 times on balls hit in play in 2011 to 28,130 in 2016 and 59,063 last year, according to Sports Info Solutions. Shifts are on pace for 68,000 this season.
The size of the bases will increase from 15 to 18-inch squares, promoting safety (first basemen are less likely to be stepped on) but also increasing stolen bases and strikeouts with a 4.5-inch decrease in distance between the first and the second, and the second and the second. third
Committee members include the CEO of St. Louis, Bill DeWitt Jr., San Francisco President Greg Johnson, Colorado CEO Dick Monfort, Toronto CEO Mark Shapiro, Seattle President John Stanton, Boston President Tom Werner, and referee Bill Miller. Players on the panel include Cardinals pitcher Jack Flaherty, Rays pitcher Tyler Glasnow, Blue Jays infielder/outfielder Whit Merrifield and Giants outfielder Austin Slater, and Cubs infielder Ian Happ also participated as a substitute.
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