Major League Baseball announced on Friday that it has reached an agreement with the independent Atlantic League wherein the Atlantic League will adopt a series of radical rule changes to serve as an experimentation grounds for MLB. Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper first reported in late February that a wave of changes was coming to the Atlantic League as part of the agreement, specifically highlighting several of the now-official modifications (including Trackman-assisted strike zones and the alteration on the distance between the mound and home plate). Under the agreement, MLB “will analyze the effects of these changes before deciding on potential additional modifications during the 2019 Atlantic League All-Star break and in future seasons.”
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.
In the past, MLB has experimented with various rule changes at the minor league level, most recently implementing a pitch clock in the minors back in 2015. (That change, which gives a pitcher 20 seconds to at least come set to deliver his pitch, is currently being tested during Spring Training.) However, given the more radical nature of these changes, MLB has now sought an independent setting in order to analyze the benefits and potential pitfalls of these scenarios.
Alterations to the pitching mound, robotic/computerized calling of balls and strikes and the potential banning of aggressive defensive shifts have all been among the talking points during commissioner Rob Manfred’s ongoing pace-of-play initiatives since being named Bud Selig’s successor. While today’s announcement certainly doesn’t suggest that any of these changes are on the cusp of being introduced at the MLB level, the experiment and analysis nonetheless foreshadow what feels like an inevitable wave of changes at some point in the future. Baseball purists have persistently bristled at the continual changes that have been both implemented and suggested by Manfred. The commissioner, in turn, has repeatedly spoken about a desire to grow the game’s appeal and to not only shorten the overall length of games but also to increase the level of action within them.
I don’t like any of these.
Not really sure how anyone on planet earth can not like this one.
Time between innings and pitching changes reduced from 2:05 to 1:45.
Everybody at the game who is trying to get up, use the bathroom or grab a snack or drink hates it.
I didn’t think of that, but is 20 seconds going to make that big of a difference? Not to mention, you have TVs everywhere in the park.
true
I’ll take a change that benefits the 99% any day. The 1% will just have to get over missing a pitch or two (gasp).
Which is why most stadiums have these things called vendors who walk around selling food and drink.
The bathroom thing, well, go before the game starts and you should be able to last 2-3 hours.
@ martras – do you get something to eat and go to the bathroom every single half inning?
I’ve never been at a game doing either and said to myself – gee, I wish I had 20 more seconds.
Probably not in the Independent League where bathrooms are limited and TVs around the park are pretty much non existent.
When’s the last game you went to? Vendors hardly visit some areas of the park (especially the more family affordable ones outside the box seats), when they do the selection is so limited as to be nearly non-existant (as in 3 items over the whole GAME), and, those vendors seldom and sporadically appear – you might see a given vendor as little as once all game. Didn’t get that hot dog 1st inning? Tough luck, he ain’t coming back. Kid wants cotton candy/peanuts/cracker jack before the 8th? Guess you’re out of luck
Wait until your prostate turns 40 and then tell me you should be able to wait 2-3 hours.
I like a few but why do all at once? If the league is on board, eliminate the mound visits and require three batters or the pitcher must end an inning and measure say a month in if there is a noticeable difference in the length of a game. Then do a couple of more the following month, etc. By doing controlled tests, they’ll have a better idea on what works. Personally, eliminating the shift is the most bizarre rule change being done. Since when should people get rewarded for not doing their job? The shift does not cause delays and eliminating it hurts the pitcher. What did Ted Williams do? He hit the ball where they weren’t playing. Bring back bunting, hit and runs, stolen bases, etc. In other words, stop playing a computer game and bring back real baseball. Get rid of the DH too. It was artificially created for runs to be scored. Such is not needed today with players stronger, stadiums smaller and equipment either juiced or otherwise made differently.
No. But fans do. Every single inning. Everybody is in a rush as it is. This just means missing more action for fans and more rushing, crowding and shorter tempers.
dumb
I”m 51…just deal w it dummy
In The Atlantic League? I don’t think so.
Do all that for maybe 3 min per team, for total difference of 6 min difference ..What bull just so they can say they are trying to shorting game..
That will save less than six minutes in a nine inning game and make me miss more of the game when I buying munchies.
America is an obese nation, so this will help fans to lose a little bit of weight. Carrot sticks and celery only from the 7th inning forward.
This I can get on board with. Lol
It’s only 20 seconds at a time so you’ll miss 1 extra minute if you go out 3 times in the game and you are late getting back every time. I don’t think they’d give up 20 seconds of commercial time per inning but if they do I would love saving 6 minutes of commercials each game for the price of a few missed pitches when I’m at a game live especially since most people watch way more games on TV than they go to live
You need to stop eating munchies fattie
Don’t expect players to run over and toss balls in the stands to your kid, etc. That extra 20 seconds will be that.
Drink less beer and soda and you won’t have to go to the bathroom 4 times a game. Drunks are the reason that lines to get into the bathroom are often ridiculous at games
Never thought I’d see the day the commissioner of one of the major sports leagues floated the idea of forfeiting an ad slot to speed up the game and the fans of that sport were so stubborn they shot it down.
I would think advertisers wouldn’t like this because of 30 second advertising cost slots.
So some of these are definitely foundational and I’m not a fan. What I am a fan of is putting a pitch clock in the minors and getting these guys used to pitching a little quicker and getting hitters ready faster.
I think it will fix a lot of issues at the MLB level over time and not require them to change rules. Kind of like how in NCAA you get 5 fouls where in the NBA you get 6. This way if you want to introduce a pitch clock in the future it will be an easier transition. I think rushing things is the biggest mistake.
I also like the umpires getting some assistance and self accountability.
There’s a lot to digest here but while I’m a traditional guy when it comes to baseball and I hate the changes there are some positives to pick out.
I’m pretty traditional, but I see a couple of these as fixing some nontraditional trends.
Traditionally, teams carried 9 or 10 pitchers (and didn’t shuffle them between majors and minors). This left several roster spots for position players and good pinch hitters. Pitchers had to learn to pitch, and there was no place for those who could only pitch by going all-out to one batter (who batted from a certain side, of course).
Traditionally, two infielders play on each side of the field. I don’t like what the shift has done, making hitters swing for the fences and strike out more. Ideally, of course, hitters would have responded by learning to go the other way, and that would have made the game better. But so many strikeouts don’t make the game better.
Like you, I do like the assistance on balls and strikes. When I mainly used the radio, I did not realize how bad the calls can be. Now that I watch more games on TV and see the strike-zone box, I do.
If they are shifting on you, then you should have more incentive to learn to hit the other way. Shifting is smart baseball. Hitters can and should adapt to the shift.
I saw a great segment with Carlos Peña on MLB Network a few weeks ago. Changing how you hit as a player sounds easy to fans but it just isn’t. There’s a lot less control over where that ball is going than you think. This tired trope of the players should just adjust is getting old. If it were that easy, don’t you think it would have happened already. So many fans don’t use the right head!
The shift was first documented as being in use in the 1870s. Teams shifted on Babe Ruth in the 1920s all the time. Shifts aren’t new.
Professional players aren’t going to change overnight, but it could certainly cause a shift in how the next generation of hitters is learning to play the game. That’s how the game grows and stays interesting with coaching and playing styles playing a cat and mouse game.
Outlawing the shift seems extremely short-sighted. Imagine if after the first 10 years of right-handed throwers batting left handed they made a rule against that because it was messing with the competitive balance. Imagine if after Air Coryell’s offense,showed success, they had made a rule forcing TEs to line up in-line. Continue on for all the other overreactions you could see in any sport whenever a fresh new idea was super-effective until other coaches with other new ideas counteracted the trend.
I agreed with this when teams first started using the shift. I saw a few good hitters make the adjustment. Unfortunately, more players found that it was easier and more beneficial to them to just try to hit the ball higher, rather than use all fields. That caused more strikeouts, which players no longer care about. And the game became less interesting.
right there with you
most of them are pretty invisible but I hate the 3 batter minimum and no mound visits
Looks like they are trying to do the same thing to MLB that happened to nascar. I’m a true baseball fan who doesn’t like all the messing with the game. It’s shameful.
I feel bad for the Atlantic League players and coaches that have to deal with all this crap. What a joke!!!
im sure they get a nice bit money out of it. who knows, they maybe even one may snag a Maldonado or Jones with that extra coin.
wow this is gonna suck if some of the changes happen to the mlb taking away the beauty of baseball
Like what? Clearly the “shift” has nothing to do with the beauty of baseball.
robotic umps is a big one
I love games decided by players and not umpires. If the technology exist, Then I’m for it.
The game is about the players, not the umpires.
Are you saying the game should be about the umpires? If so, that’s a game I don’t want to watch.
Robo umps will help silence Angel Hernandez. How is this a bad thing?
Robotic umps are the best idea on the list.
Absolutely. More fights are better. Without umps, who’s gonna stop ’em?
If the game had any guts, Joe West and Angel Hernandez would have been sent packing years ago, just like less than stellar minor league baseball players are.
I’m all for any for of electronic balls and strike calling and taking away various strike zones different umpires have. This is not a radical idea and was tinkered with in the mid 70’s as an experimental idea.
Stick an umpire near home plate, out of the way for close plays there, but not calling pitches when everything can be called pitch wise much better other ways.
Get rid of ego umpires also as sort of mentioned above. NOBODY goes to games to see them. Making calls only, not sporting around and showboating like several do.
Our new robotic overlords will not tolerate disruptions in the game.
baseball doesn’t need to be changed in my opinion
Baseball should always be evolving in my (and in historys) opinion.
Agreed. I think it’s time to run the bases clockwise as well, instead of counterclockwise.
Running them counterclockwise can trigger fans, who are confronted by past emotional traumas since it symbolizes turning the clocks back.
MOVE FORWARD!
I know when people say things as silly as that, they don’t have much of a counter point.
You’re right, I almost forgot.
Runs are now “florps” and all fielders must move sideways at all times as well.
JJB – go play rounders if you hate baseball.
No vowels will be allowed in replies as well.
I get trying to make more money, but the game itself is still pretty good and comparable to its past. Why do the crappy examples of other sports matter? The form of basketball in college is superior. Professional football is probably going to morph to something unrecognizable after a series of lawsuits over brain damage. Hockey is a Canadian game where they go south to make some money. Baseball is minting money and WANTS TO CHANGE….wtf?
yr thghts r nnsns
This would defuse my class action suit brought on behalf of all southpaws who are systematically and geometrically denied equal opportunity to play the three glamour infield positions (and for some reason, catcher). Lefties of the world, unite, we have nothing to lose except a few loogy jobs.
Or they just don’t have a stick up their bum and can joke around sometimes
the average age of a baseball fan is getting older and that indicates future problems. Money will not continue increasing if attendance and ratings decrease. Look at what happened to Sears as its customers got older and younger shoppers went else where.
The only rule I would like changed is the shift. The others mean little to me.
The average age of every game is probably aging. Maybe basketball is growing, but that system is even more corrupt than baseball.
wll sht.
@KingKoffrey Maybe we should set a maximum quota of lefties who are allowed to pitch for every team, and move first base two feet further away from home plate every time they bat. 😛
“If I can make up a change that would be silly to implement, then that’ll show that any change anyone might make for any reason is a bad thing.”
– JJB, in so many words
The shift has been instrumental in so many games, it basically won the 1946 World Series where the Cardinals shut Ted Williams down by using it.
changing the mound distance and the base size are great since really what those do is align the game with increased athletic ability
You sound like an idiot
“”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.””
What? Not that I agree with all of these, but I understand the rational for most of these but TWO FEET? That’s flat out nuts.
Good idea to split the season with this in the ATL league as it will be easier to see the effects of this. I N guessing it will be huge.
I thought six inches… Not two feet.
Yeah. I agree that six inches might be something to test. But two feet. What are they smoking at the league office?
Changing the trajectory pitchers need to throw midseason seems like a very bad idea for getting a good sample on the effects of the changes. Offensive numbers will blow up, but will it be because the batter has an extra 2 feet to see the ball and react or because pitchers suddenly have no idea how to place their pitches?
that does seem excessive.
I feel this is the worst of the rules suggested.
As a former pitcher; this seems incredibly difficult to adjust to in the middle of a season. I mean, think of breaking pitches?
Maybe they should try slow pitch softball.
I think the thought process is to create a more offensive game in the second half. It gives hitters more time to catch up to 100 mph stuff. I hate it but trying my best to play devil’s advocate. How pitchers are going to adjust is beyond me. How do you train for that?
It would just be hard enough to adjust after pitching at 60’6” since I was 14. So some like Verlander has been pitching at that distance for like 20 years.
exactly what I was thinking Brandon. If they were to make the change before the season and give pitchers time to adjust, that’s 1 thing but to do a drastic change in the middle of the year just doesn’t make any sense.
It is to cause more blown arms and TJ surgery
Not really, these guys are throwing as hard as they can as it is.
My initial reaction was the the same. Upon thinking about it some, I kind of agree with the premise of going extreme, and find out just what happens. I’m not 100% confident more balls will be put into play. The amount of both horizontal and vertical movement on pitches is going to be exponentially greater. Straight fastballs will get crushed, but I’m not so sure that hitting won’t become even more difficult.
Seems like there would be a lot more balls. This move certainly won’t speed up the game. Hard to make changes to speed up the game and create more offense, they are diametrically opposed.
Speeding up the pace of the game isn’t necessarily the same thing as shortening the length of a game. It seems he wants more action-heavy games, so less time between scoring opportunities and the like. So you might have a 4 hour game with runners living in scoring position and a final score of 8-5, and that’d be a faster paced game than a 3 hour game with a 4-2 final.
That is a stupid recommendation and clearly will not be accepted by the players. Curve balls won’t curve, sliders won’t slide. Medically bad move and will put more stress on pitcher’s elbows and shoulders. Non-starter
My first thought was that this was a typo. 2 POINT 4 inches would make a world of difference to hitters and give them additional time to judge the ball. 2 FEET makes pitching entirely different.
I really don’t agree with the shift rule at all but the rest I suppose I can get behind them.
A ground ball by a left handed hitter that sneaks it’s way into right field is a beautiful thing.
It’s now a thing of the past. I LOVE THE ANTI-SHIFT RULE.
It’s now easier for that to happen…
I am with you on these. Why should a team not be allowed to defend against a batter that either can not or will not hit the ball to the opposite field. If You know where he is going to hit the ball, why should you not be allowed to defend against the batter? If I am a batter, all you have to do is to either bunt or slap a few pitches down the line opposite of where you are being defended. That will force the other team to line up more traditionally and free up more room for you to your power fields. If a team does not give up the shift, you will get on base 3-4 times no matter what.
Stop with the opposite field comments. If Ted Williams couldn’t do it against pitchers throwing in the mid 80s, what chance does a typical player have today against pitchers throwing n the mid 90s. It’s not a knowledgeable comment.
There are defensive rules in ALL sports. All of them.
Go to ESPN classic. Watch a game 20 years ago. Now imagine the shift in place for that game. . It would be an entirely different game and not for the better. .
What does Ted Williams have to do with any of today’s game?
I watched games in the 60s….live…. Players hit the other way. Ted is quoted as saying he did not want to sacrifice power nor did he want to change his swing in anyway once the other teams shifted on him. A lot of it is ego, The big hitters always want the opportunity to hit a home run. It was estimated that Ted lost 15 points off of his career average due to the shift. Wonder if he gave in and went the other way some, if they would have not shifted near as much and he would have had a higher career average in the end. We shall never know.
If a hitter is only effective when you prevent the other team from defending him, he’s not a good hitter so why does he deserve special treatment?
‘action’ created by such laughably artificial means has no appeal to me, and I’m guessing a lot of other fans would quickly grow tired of it as well.
Agree with @petrie000 here. As I mentioned above, there’s a great segment with Carlos Peña on MLB Network. It’s just not that it easy to change how you bat or to hit the other way. Jesus some fans are dumb as a box of sawdust. And bunting? A manager that promotes bunting gets fired! See Paul Molitor.
Babe Ruth, when asked by reporters why he didn’t hit the other way when he was shifted on (which was a lot): “The fans don’t come to see me hit a single through the hole. They come to see home runs.” (Paraphrased from the Jane Leavy bio that came out last year).
No mound visits besides pitching changes or medical issues? I seriously hope that doesnt happen in the mlb. What if you need to calm a pitcher down?
Yeah I don’t like this one at all. Loud stadium, pitcher can’t find the zone. Need a little reminder from time to time if the catcher and the pitcher get mixed up.
Just preach tolerance and understanding to the crowds and tell them that we don’t support hatred of any kind in today’s society.
That should work.
I think going to a timeout system with each team getting a certain amount of stoppages in play is probably the most elegant way to achieve what they’re going for. Only being able to talk to a pitcher to change them seems extreme.
The pitcher can now choose to visit a player vs a mound visit
Lets just change it to having the pitchers throw oranges instead of baseballs. This is so dumb
What a waste of good oranges…
“Home plate umpire assisted in calling balls and strikes by a TrackMan radar tracking system.” – YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES
To reiterate: YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES!!!!!!
The human element in umpiring needs to go away forever. A strike is a strike, not what an egomaniac who might have a personal vendetta against a player/team decides what a strike is. “Ump shows” are the worst thing about the game by a million miles.
While I tend to agree, I disagree with the radar tracking system. Just tell umpires to be consistent. If an umpire has a small strike zone, that’s okay, but just make sure he keeps to that strike zone through the entire game. There is no reason a strike in the 2nd inning should be called a ball in a 2 run game in the 9th. Umpires change their zone due to the situation. Just tell them to be consistent and that they’ll be evaluated, and if an umpire has a certain inconsistency, they get fined, or removed from the umpire rotation for a time or something.
Umpires won’t go away, the Umpire union won’t let them. They probably also won’t let umpires get punished for being inconsistent either. I do think something needs to be done about them, they’re there to officiate, not steal the show.
I don’t understand any of what you said. Its literally impossible for an umpire to be consistent. Ever tried calling a 100 mph fastball on the corner 100 times out of a 100? I’m not sure you understand how totally impossible everything you wrote is.
The umpires union won’t mean anything if all umpires are gone.
When I read comments like that, I’m not sure people understanding the difficulties of the process.
From calling balls and strikes to completely revamping your swing to avoid the shift.
Do fans understand that the game looks nothing like it does on tv when youre actually playing it?
on the corner verses 3″ off is the issue
I don’t think they do. It’s a very tough game.
But have they tried telling them to just try harder? /s
“Just tell umpires to be consistent”. Why didn’t the mlb figure that out?
Umpires don’t have to go away; there are plenty of calls that still require a human to perform. Even if we get to a point where every call an umpire would make gets automated, there still needs to be a human there to relay that call. Not to mention umpires will still get to issue warnings and throw players out of games.
Any thing that eliminates “framing” as a serious stat gets my yes vote. Just wondering how this will work with foul ticks. .
The home plate umpire would still be there for such things. You need somebody there to call safe/out anyway.
SKYNET
So they are paying independent ball to be a lab rat
the lab rats are a great indy ball team, what are you talking about
The players supplement their income by participating in medical trials.
Yes. And the indy league doesn’t seem to be saying no. So what is the problem?
I can live with most of these changes but extending the mound by 2’ is just wrong! For what purpose so hitters can hit more homers?? That’s bull- sinker ball pitchers are screwed they will be bouncing in!!!
Not bad for either sides. Pitches will adjust. What bounces at first will start acting like the normal sinkers when they get used to the new distance.
Giving batters two more feet means pitchers getting lit up. I don’t like it.
It also means all breaking pitches will have two more feet to move. The average two seam fastball moves 5″ to the pitchers arm side. If that changes to even 5.5″ that is a HUGE difference to solid contact. Considering the bat is only at most 2 3/4″ wide the ball being 1/2″ away from where you expect it is the difference between solid contact and a pop up or foul ball.
Let’s see, I’m all for lessening the time between innings, making bases bigger and the shift one. The 3 batter minimum I’m iffy on. But the no mound visit other than a pitching change or injury I don’t like, I don’t like the robot assisting umpires, and I don’t like the moving the rubber back 2 feet.
Instead of giving umpires robot help, if you want games to be a bit quicker, why not tell the umpires to be consistent? There is no reason why a pitch that is a strike in tie game in the 2nd inning, should be a ball in a 2 run game in the 9th. Umpires adjust their zones based on the situation and that shouldn’t happen.
Also, how are they going to move the rubber back 2 feet without changing the mound? Are all Atlantic League fields going to have to redo the mound? You can’t use the current mound cause pushing the rubber back 2 feet would put it on the infield grass behind the mound I believe.
“Instead of giving umpires robot help, if you want games to be a bit quicker, why not tell the umpires to be consistent?”
lmao dude cmon, you cant have consistent umpiring, ever. its impossible to call 100/100 corner strikes perfectly.
I was referring to pitches fully in the zone being called balls.
But how would a radar system work? Would it get rid of the home plate umpire totally if you used it exclusively? Or would it be something behind the scenes where the umpire wears an ear piece and it tells him ball or strike and he calls it like he normally would? At least that way, if a player asks an umpire if the pitch he swung at was a strike, the umpire could accurately tell him.
Laser guided strike zone, they have them in tennis to call faults, same technology could easily be used from above/behind the plate near the backstop to project the zone. If the ball hits the zone, its a strike and there could even be a light situation that goes off and keeps count as well.
Baseball umpires have been on thin ice for so long, it’s time to crack that and get rid of them entirely.
I like the idea of bases being a flat square too, so many injuries would be prevented. You could even have 2 separate squares for the defender and runner to tag so they would avoid getting tangled up. Baseball is not a contact sport and never has been, no idea why the bloodthirst of many sports fans in this nation decided it was good for the game.
Its not quite the same as tennis, The strike zone isn’t a fixed line on the ground. Its three dimensional and custom to each batter. Its seriously challenging to make it work well for real, despite what you see with Gameday
Curious to see how it’s implemented. There would have to be a way for a manager to challenge in the event of a calibration problem.
No it doesn’t. Just plug the dimensions for each player into a computer program, tell the computer what order to rear them dmensions in, and a tech to push a few buttons if there’s a lineup change, and you’re good to go.
Trackman reads the flight of the ball, so it’s actually quite simple to make this work even with a variable zone.
Gameday is a far less advanced system, which is why it’s not that accurate.
Thanks for that. Interesting stuff.
Totally agree. Having the umps be consistent is like telling a person with depression to cheer up. Umpires will still referee the game just not call strikes…
The only rule experiment I am 100% in favor of is the laser strike zone. I am totally against the shift bans, moving the rubber back and the 3 batter minimum for pitchers.
Making the bases bigger? Meh.
I’m OK with the time stuff and maybe the tougher stance on pitching mound visits but it is not a deal breaker for me.
Laser strike zones are what the game needs, but also, the game needs laser bases that don’t come up out of the ground and cause wrists and fingers to break.
Making the bases bigger is the silliest possible one besides the mound moving back two feet. I understand wanting more steals, I guess, but giving baserunners six inches less in which to steal bases is absurd. Guys like Hamilton would steal 150 bases every season. How often do you ever see a basestealer get thrown out by more than six inches?
Glad the guinea pigs are not MLB games. That part makes sense.
Baseball is ever-evolving, and it’s better to get a feel for proposed changes first, before making them law.
Purists were against the implementation of replay-based umpiring decisions, but now it’s widely regarded as good for the game. The same could happen with automated ball/strike calls. The goal is to get the darn calls right.
I don’t like the way they implement replay. If you really want to get the call right, don’t tell the replay official what the original call was. Just let them view it and make the call.
The idea about “clear and convincing” came from the NFL where you have piles of bodies obscuring the view. You don’t have that in baseball. Just make the call.
Great take! Seriously… The replay system is obnoxious. It just lets the booth umpire off the hook and makes him not inclined to overrule the on field guys.
Love the balls and strikes idea. Isnt everyone tired of seeing balls get called strikes (or vice versa) when watching a game on TV?! I know I am. And LOVE taking away the shift. I bet Papi wishes they’d done that sooner
Why not just make the ball a size of basketball.
I hate all these rule changes. Increasing the bases might be interesting, might encourage more base stealing.
Is that no mound visits by players on the field?
Baseball is a team sport, how could the players not discuss strategy or something like the mound scene from Bill Durham when not allowed to visit the mound?
I bet if they implement the pitch track, someone will hack it and it will a huge scandal.
How is the “two on each side of the infield” rule going to work? Currently, baseball teams are not required to have ANY players on the infield at all. This isn’t just a change vis-a-vis the shift. It seems like it will also prohibit IFs playing on the grass at all.. Or is there going to be an extended IF so SS who play on the grass will not be in violation of the rule?
My interpretation of it is simply that there need to be two infielders on the left side of second base and two on the right side — regardless of depth. If you want your shortstop or second baseman to play deeper (back of the dirt or even on the outfield grass), that’d be permissible.
Seeking clarification: “Pitching changes for pitching changes of medical changes” — is that correct or should “of” be “or”?
A mound visit only for a pitching change due to a medical concern only seems excessive.
Yes — it should be “or.”
Of course, on the one where I botched the copy/paste and filled in the remainder of the sentence myself, I made an egregious typo. Sigh. Sorry about that, and thank you for pointing it out.
No worries Steve. Your WWAR (Writer’s WAR) is still higher than TC Zencka and Mark Polishuk.
Aw, gee, Steve… you mean you’re human??
These are all terrible, other than the one that shortens commercial breaks. This Commissioner is a bigger stooge than the one he replaced, somehow.
So now we are going to dictate where players can play now? ITS CALLED STRATEGY! Thats like telling an NFL team, “yeah well you cant line up your safety right there, its not fair”. learn to hit around the shift. you are major league players who are getting paid millions of dollars to play baseball. you would think they would have enough skill to adjust their game to deal with defensive shifts. My god,STOP changing things. Lets just put a tee up there and eliminate pitchers all together.
The NFL absolutely has rules on where you can line up. Illegal motion. Illegal formation, etc. MLB has positions. Players should play their position.
The NFL is a wholly different game.
Defensive shifting in baseball dates back decades — even Ted Williams was shifted on. Besides that, there have been widely accepted defensive shifts in baseball for our entire lives. The “no doubles” defense, pulling in the infield corners in a bunt situation, etc. — they’re all defensive shifts.
Defensive positions only exist because players originally tried to evenly disperse themselves throughout the field to cover the most ground possible.
Yeah, but the shifts with Williams were done with the human mind and remembering how he hits. The computer algorithms they use to create spread charts just seem a bit less in line with sportsmanship. I understand technology moves forward and drags along the past, but it just seems to cheapen it a bit. I’m not going to stop watching baseball regardless of shifts, but the computerized shifts just take away a little bit of the romance of the game.
They were shifting before all of the computer use of the last few years. They had scouts to chart such things. End results were the same.
Yes there were shifts, but not nearly as many.
Well Steve, my answer might have something to do with the poster above me specifically bringing the NFL into the conversation.
I don’t mind your opinion being different than mine, but your stance on the origins of baseball positions seems to sort of intentionally glaze the surface. Originally, players stood directly on bases. They didn’t disperse evenly. The shortstop position was essentially a cutoff man created by converting an outfielder. That dates back into the mid 1800s for reference.
Yes, the shift existed to deal with a single player… 60 years ago. It basically ended with Ted Williams and was relegated to a novelty. Something seen a handful of times per year. Its now commonplace and needs to be addressed. Other sports institute competitive balance rules all the time. The shift is boring and baseball already has a problem with young people thinking the sport is boring.
A human can come up with a spray chart if you give him the right information. A computer just does it faster.
So I’m not entirely sure what the complaint is…
The first newspaper reports about the “overshift” in professional baseball date from the 1870s.
Not sure whether it’s an important distinction or not, but just about all the rules on formations are on the offensive side of the ball in football. Defenses are largely left to line up whatever way they see best fit to stop the offense.
Making changes catering to the “casual fans” at the expense of most existing fans. This reminds me of nascar, and nascar lost about half its tv viewership in the last ~15 years and every track seen its capacity reduced. Hope Manfred won’t become the Brian France of baseball
BINGO!
The existing fans are getting older, which means they’ll be dead sooner than the casual fans… And baseball’s revenue stream dies with them if they can’t make new fans to replace them
If baseball isn’t proactive about this, then yes, they will go the way of NASCAR.
But at what point do you start replacing the existing fans? I am 42, am I to be rushed off to the grave in order to get a 3 year old to take my place? I still have hopefully another 40+ years of spending to go.
To be honest, after I am gone I don’t care what happens to baseball or Earth for that matter. I’d like everything to be copacetic, but honestly if it isn’t it won’t affect me at all.
From a business perspective, as soon as your internal data shows your losing ground in the under 30 demographic.
If you wait until you start losing fans overall, it’s probably too late. Starting to experiment now is a smart move, so they don’t have to panic scramble later and really mess it all up.
This! You have to get new fans now, not when we (I’m 42 as well) are all already gone. There’s fewer of us “olds” as fans, and the younger generation doesn’t have the attention span (hell, I hardly do). Either adapt or die. Just because the clubs are swimming in revenue now doesn’t mean the finance guys aren’t modeling out what attendance and viewership will look like in 10 and 20 years.
My take:
1. Roboumps to help umpires. – Good. So long as they’re used as training tools to help umpires become more consistent, I’m happy. Used for calling balls/strikes, I don’t like it.
2. No strategy visits to mound. – Stupid. Sometimes a catcher or coach needs to calm a pitcher down or talk strategy for a big out.
3. Minimum of 3 batters – Bad. If your relief pitcher obviously doesn’t have his stuff, why are you forced to hang him out there to dry?
4. Increase base size – Meh? I don’t really have a significant opinion on this one. Doesn’t seem necessary. Machado stomped on Pearce’s foot intentionally. Having 3″ more won’t change a dirty player’s route.
5. Eliminate extreme shifts – Good. I’d like players to play their positions. The extreme shift is bad for baseball.
6. Decrease inning break time – Bad. People attending the game would really like to be able to get up and use the bathroom or grab a snack or a drink. This isn’t the problem with game time.
7. Move the plate back 2ft – Bad. Pitchers are trained to throw from 60 feet, 6 inches. You’re going to completely screw with their mechanics. For what purpose? Just fix the strike zone if you want more balls in play.
Moving rubber back 2 feet = mechanics adjustments for pitchers = lots of pitches out of strike zone = more walks and better baseball?
Except for your opinion about the shift, I agree with you.
” Just fix the strike zone if you want more balls in play.” This is a WAY better idea than moving the mound back…
do like softball leagues and go to 3-2 counts. That will speed things up.
1. I have no problem with a computer ump being used as a replay determination, but once you take away the human element from umps, where does it end? Simulating the season on a computer because players get hurt and that seems unfair.
2. Agree. Not to mention if a battery has their signs mixed up.
3. If your relief pitcher obviously doesn’t have his stuff, then you should fire the bullpen coach for not letting you know that before you put him in the game. If it is obvious enough after 1 or 2 batters, it should be obvious while he is warming up. I have ZERO problem with it.
4. Agree, this seems unnecessary
5. Agree with you 100%
6. Why should 30,000 people in a stadium and many more at home have to wait an extra 30 seconds for you to go to the bathroom or buy a hot dog? Maybe have one break midway through the game a bit longer (3 minutes or so) to accommodate such things. But I still say that that is an individual’s personal problem. I wouldn’t fight against keeping it as is, but I think I’d prefer the shorter time in between innings.
7. Agree it seems unnecessary, but these pitchers are not robots. If everyone has to adapt to change, why can’t they?
I don’t think you understand why the bases being enlarged is an issue. It has nothing to do with plays at first and everything to do with stealing more bases. It decreases the distance between bases by one half-foot, which is huge. Coupled with moving the mound back two feet, that means pickoff plays at first will be basically obsolete, and teams will steal 200 bases a year. Think about how often you see a player thrown out by more than a half-foot on a steal attempt. It never happens. Couple that with a pitch clock and what you have is just like little league – any batter on first will so easily steal second and third it’s going to be preposterous. Yadi Molina would steal 50 bases a year with these rules. That’s not baseball I want to watch at all.
Davidcoonce74, I am sorry, but that is COMPLETELY absurd. Effectively making the distance between the bases a 6 inches shorter is NOT going to cause an explosion in stolen bases. It certainly would see an increase, but it would not be this INSANE thing where teams are stealing 2-5 times as many bases as today. That is not true at all. Why do you act like every single caught stealing is by 6 inches or less? That’s not even remotely true. I see it all the time, I am not sure which baseball games you are watching.
I would estimate the increase would be in the 15-20% range (which honestly would be good for the game), and not this insane game altering thing that you keep posting about.
You are over-reacting with this one quite a bit.
You are going to attract the young crowd, while losing the older generation to baseball. Lose Lose. People who have watched the game for 30 plus years are gonna stop watching if you turn this into a joke.
I think there’ll be a small section of people who quit watching, yes. But I’ve also been watching for 30+ years, and while I dislike several of the proposed changes, I’m also fully cognizant of the fact that I will never stop watching baseball. I think more people have my mentality.
Not defending the changes — some of which I loathe — but I have a hard time believing they’ll entirely alienate a substantial portion of the existing fanbase (at least to the point where they simply stop watching).
I agree. I think most of us are curious about your take on this. Which changes do you like/loathe?
As you can probably tell from my comments, I think banning the shift (or effectively doing so with the two infielder on each side of 2B rule) goes against the spirit of the game.
It’s not among the Atlantic League changes, but I utterly loathe the notion of starting runners on the bases at a certain point in extra innings. It’s an atrocity.
I think a few mound visits per game are fine. I find the three-batter minimum to be too limiting as well, though I’m more amenable to that change than the ones I’ve already mentioned.
Generally speaking, I think most of the other rule changes will be less noticeable than people think and soon feel commonplace.
What about the mound shift and size of the bases? Only idea I can see is to increase the ease and frequency of stolen bases.
Mound height up and down is one thing. But I think rearranging the basic geometry and distances on the infield is one thing that should remain untouched. That’s probably the worst of all the changes proposed IMO
(A 3 inch wider base gains almost 4.5 on the diagonal as well)
I’m not sure you’re going to attract the young crowd. They get introduced to baseball by the old crowd. If the old crowd gets turned off, I don’t think the young crowd will spontaneously discover baseball.
“You are going to attract the young crowd, while losing the older generation to baseball. Lose Lose.”
Attracting young people is a lose? Okayyyy old timer, time for a nap….
What is ironic to me is these rules could make for more offense and hence longer games.
Everything that has ever been pure and enjoyable always gets someone who is going to make it better….. never happens.
Never? Long ago, a foul ball with two strikes was an out.
If it’s just about speeding up games, go back to a foul ball with two strikes being strike three.
But don’t go calling it Baseball.
About the shift. How many people know there are defensive rules already in place for baseball?
Players can not line up in foul territory… That’s a rule. The catcher must start off in his box, that’s a rule.
So if you think an anti-shift rule is bad, then you be consistent, think all defensive alignment rules in all sports are bad.
Of course. Heck, lets get rid of the blue line and red lines in Hockey while we are at it. At line up as many men on the line of scrimmage or back field as you want. And lets get rid of those ridiculous lane violations in Basketball.
I appreciate your point, but I do think there’s important differences with all of your examples. It’s standard in just about any sport setting for players to be required to be within the field of play at the start of the play. That’s almost a substitution rule as much as anything else. It’s also almost completely inconsequential.
Catcher being in the box is a no-brainer, and it’s hard to imagine how the game would function otherwise.
None of the examples you gave from other sports have to do with defensive alignments. Aside from some fundamental rules around specialized positions like goalkeepers (kind of like catchers above), defenses are free to align how they’d like.
The closest comparison I can think of is the new rules in the NFL around how teams have to line up on certain special teams plays, but that’s due to safety which is trumping preserving the spirit of the kickoff or whatever.
No mound visits sounds like a decent idea. And the robo umpire. otherwise its a joke.
BREAKING NEWS:
Frontier League will require players to wear nothing but athletic supporters. Umpires will be required to wear gender-neutral clothing.
Counting balls will become a new sabermetric.
Hahahaha.
Bobtillman… thank you for your example of preaching tolerance and inclusiveness regarding umpires’ clothing.
Which gender pronoun do you prefer so I can say “thank you sir/ma’am”?
Implying that there are only two genders is pretty problematic, xir.
I THINK the new word is “syth” gender….but it thounds awfully pejorative to me…..kind of a thilly word……
I may be in the minority here but baseball to me is not too long. If you think baseball games are too long don’t watch.
Let me get this straight…baseball has to shorten games by a few minutes to attract the generation that invented binge watching? And thinks nothing of spending a three day weekend watching five seasons of a 1990’s sitcom?
The mound thing is going to be a disaster. Indifferent to the rest.
I love that MLB is trying things. It’s easy to sit on your hands and never even make an effort to improve. What if one of these changes makes the game better and even more entertaining? I love the effort.
None of these rules change the root meaning of baseball from “see ball, hit ball” – everything else should be constantly re-evaluated.
unfortunately, most things mlb is experimenting is not worth a half penny.
moving the rubber back is the worst thing the tiny head commish ever thought of.
Stupid.
What is with bases being 3 inches bigger, why?
helps eliminate small type collisions especially down 1st base side like that crap machado pulled. very small change physical but possibly a huge chance in the long run if the game
I guess it makes it easier to slide into a base without being blocked?
These are a bunch of trivial experiments on guys that have no choice because it’s either indy ball or bagging groceries. The exception is moving the rubber back 2 feet. Everywhere else it’s 60 ft., 6 inches. This is going to be a big and unfair physical adjustment for pitchers. it is just a bad idea.
“These are a bunch of trivial experiments on guys that have no choice because it’s either indy ball or bagging groceries. ”
This is baseball we’re talking about, so you can’t proposing changing a lightbulb in Fenway stadium without some segment of the fanbase decrying it as a conspiracy by young people and filthy casuals to ruin America.
There are people complaining about the commercial breaks being shorter, for chirst’s sake.
This is absolute crap, especially moving back the rubber. Horrible idea.
Some I absolutely hate like messing with the mound, but others I like such as robot assisted balls and strikes for the umpire and changing shift so at least 2 infielders on each side. In reality it doesn’t change THAT much since SS can stand slightly next to 2nd base, so it’s still a shift just not AS extreme.
Well, maybe we can try moving the mound back 3 feet bu the pitcher actually gets to crow hop as a wind-up, and there will only be two strikes for a strikeout, but, first base will be 2X as big as the other bases.
Awful. Leave the game alone. Crap like this is why I went from a big NBA fan to not watching a game in 7 years. Everyone thinks they need the next marketing dollar.
Just my opinion, I like the robo ump and it’s about time !!!!
One blatant bad/missed call CAN change the outcome of a game at any point which means the ump would be solely responsible….we have all seen this happen time and again !
You must be referring to when Anthony rizzo got called out on what looked like ball 4 in a blow out game. Changed the entire game completely. Did I mention it was the end of the 9th inning?
Why isnt the line any changes that would impact stats? I know it’s not unprecedented but moving the mound, larger bases and eliminating relief specialists will force us into a new era for baseball and make comparisons to the past irrelevant. Robo umps, pitching clock, etc are fine.
Love the idea of the tracking system and really like the idea of getting rid of the shift and I think the idea of a picture having to pitch to at least three batters is pretty good but the rest of the wall changes are just unnecessary.
Changing the pitching distance mid-season is a bad, bad idea. At what point are pitchers going to get the chance to practice their breaking balls over the new distance?
Extending the rubber 2 feet from the plate…seems drastic and potentially damaging to pitchers at 62’6″
I’d prefer they experiment with height of the mound…last adjustment seemed to work until so many 95+ mph fastballs became the norm
Wow these rules are really gonna make kids start watching baseball instead of basketball or football
Wow most of these rule changes are awful. No mound visits? What if the infielders aren’t sure what the signs are and need to ask the catcher? I feel sorry for the players in the Atlantic League. Manfred is bad for baseball.
Taking out mound visits is like telling NFL players they can’t huddle to discuss the play.
Get wrecked, Manfred.
so the rule says nothing about moving the left fielder to shallow right?
The way the shift rule is written moving the shortstop to the right side and swapping the LF and 2B would be a legal defensive alignment.
I also wonder how an infielder lining up right behind second will be treated as he isn’t on either side so I guess that means it’s illegal.
The purpose of the experiment is just that—to experiment. After a season they will have some measureable data to analyze these proposed changes and not a website of people like us liking or hating just because……
Just let it go and see what happens….we are talking about the Independent Atlantic League—not exactly a floodgate to the majors.
No shift, extending mound two feet are dumb. Mound visits should be two, unless injured or removed, and aided strike zone are good. Extending the bases I don’t like, someone already mentioned it rarely happens and won’t change a dirty play. Play clock should be seven for hitter to be ready, seven for pitcher to come set.
I don’t think you can make baseball fast-paced enough that the young, casual fan loves it, and I think sometimes this commissioner thinks of longtime MLB fans as a control variable, meaning we’re here to stay. I would quit the game forever if any of these changes were implemented in MLB, season tickets and all. Would ruin the stat history so after one game, even if they changed it a back I would never watch or go again. I’m a fan in my 30s. That’s a lot of ticket/concession/merchandise money that they expect a casual fan to suddenly make up for.
This is all to get more fans into the game. I honestly don’t think an extra 15 minutes off a game will make little vinny watch a game he never intended on watching. Moving the mound 2 feet back? For more offense? Again, that won’t draw in more fans. I saw Alex Rodriguez saying that they need to have cameras in the ballpark that steam bp before games. You may not want to watch a full baseball game. But if there was a camera on Aaron judge taking bp, that would draw people to the game. He had a couple other really good ideas. I think it was on Alex bregmans YouTube channel. I liked a lot of what he said
There are some serious, “Dude, get off my lawn comments” in this thread. Honestly, it’s just an experiment. I am interested to find out how these changes affect the Atlantic games.
Well said.
I didn’t think the base size things was a big deal at first, then it occurred to me that some bang-bang plays at first that were called safe, could now become outs since the first baseman is that much closer to the other fielders. Does that make any sense or no?
Yeah, that is probably the only thing that makes sense, provided they’re safe.
Well, some are really not a big deal and some are just awful. Here’s what I think will happen.
TrackMan radar tracking system – Won’t affect much for pace. Hate the idea though.
No mound visits – Makes sure the pitcher can’t receive any instruction from the coach, thereby making him continue what got him in a jam in the first place, extending an inning even farther.
Pitchers must face a minimum of three batters – Yeah, this won’t have any adverse consequences…
Increase the size of 1st, 2nd and 3rd base – it might actually allow for a higher stolen base percentage, making teams run more (a good thing for the game).
Require two infielders to be on each side of second base – Bad. I really don’t see the problem with the shift. If you don’t want to be shifted, then all you have to do is beat it.
Time between innings and pitching changes reduced from 2:05 to 1:45 – This is the real pace of play problem. Games would be MUCH shorter if there wasn’t a full commercial break and guys tossing the ball around for minutes at a time. The pitcher is loose, and if he is in the dugout during a long inning, he can stay loose in the spot below. I like this one.
Distance from pitching rubber to home plate extended 24 inches, – Oh my this is a bad idea. Offensive numbers are going to shoot up in a hurry. Pitchers are farther away, so more balls will be thrown (which is not what we need, we need more) AND balls will be hit more. And don’t forget that pitchers will have farther to run to get to dribblers, so it affects defense as well.
I highly recommend going to the mlb.com media center and watching Wednesday’s Cards/Yankees broadcast and listening to Reggie Jackson talk about why these things aren’t necessarily good.
they will just break baseball from real fans of the sport, trying to get new fans that wont follow anyway
Pushing the mound further back is the dumbest idea that’ll end so quick once pitchers start hurting their arms. Some of these changes are compromising the integrity of the game.
The only change in the game that I like was when there were runners on 1st and 3rd the pitcher can not fake to third and then throw back to first. Every single other rule change beside that one has been ridiculous in the last 50 years. If Gibson wouldn’t have been so dominant back in 68 they wouldn’t have lowed the mound either. I dislike the DH, the not throwing 4 balls on int walk, the no breaking up double plays at second, the no play at the plate. These rules have made the game much less exciting. I wonder what the greats like Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth would have thought of all of these sissy changes.
Manfred is the worst so these aren’t really a surprise
Stopped reading comments after “i need the 20 extra seconds to go pee”
I don’t like the robot umpire idea either. Just tell the umpires anything close is a strike. Make em swing. That will speed up the game if that’s what these impatient people want.
This is THE WORST… “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.”
MLB is so out of touch! Bunch of corrupt-minded, greedy duds.
This is a terrible idea!!! They want to make the game more appealing to fans? The game has grown from a 3 billion dollar industry 8-10 years ago to now a 10 billion dollar industry. Remember now they are spending less money than ever before but the industry has tripled in value. Its becoming very evident that this is about making money and not providing entertainment for the fans!!!! What going to happen is some one is going to get hurt due to not enough time to get loose.
Regarding robotic umps I have say “Watch out for the unintended consequences!”
NBA and college games stop dead still for 5 minutes while they try to figure out via computer who last touched a ball before it went out of bounds. In baseball, did he or did he not swipe-tag the runner sliding into second? Let’s take 5 minutes to figure that out, and then, when they do, half the people wonder how they came to that judgment. In other words, solutions often lead to new problems which require new solutions …
The problem is the younger generations have been raised in an environment that creates ADD.
Baseball is flat out not interesting to watch unless you have patience and an appreciation for the mental side. Then it’s magic.
Basketball is fast paced and entertaining and has exploded worldwide with support from shoes, rap music, social media, and storylines for the reality tv crowd.
Baseball is discipline and the youngsters nowadays just don’t have it.
I think you may be partly right, but more to the point is that if you haven’t played baseball yourself your interest in watching it is understandably weak. Far fewer kids play baseball nowadays for many obvious reasons. The trend downward as a major league surely will decline. It’s natural.
The lowest ERA in the Atl. League is gonna be like 5.
Crush the shift!
Is it possible to watch Atlantic League games online? I want to watch that damn freakshow.
It’s annoying that umpires are so amazingly inconsistent, and the shift, while I don’t think it’s an unfair advantage (if I could hit the ball the other way so can professional baseball players) does take time and is annoying. Mound visits are theater, but they are good theater, and for me, there is nothing better than when your team has a pitcher on the ropes and the pitching coach comes out because your cleanup hitter is coming to the plate. If he immediately pops up to the catcher I wouldn’t have got a couple minutes thinking my team was going to break the game open.
The distance to the mound is kind of a sacred quantity to me. 60 feet six inches. Don’t change that. Lower the mounds if you want to but don’t change the distance.
I always thought that Bud Selig was the greatest baseball commissioner ever and possibly the best commissioner of any sport.
Rob Manfred is determined to make my point.
Bud Selig would like nothing more than have people think he was great but it just isn’t so. He’s of the same ilk as Manfred.
Selig still chastises audiences for having the audacity to say he stood by as players used ped’s for years.
Much sarcasm?
Turning a exhibition game into determining the ws was a knee jerk reaction by a bad decision from Larusa
How about a robot commissioner?
With no mound visits and a 3 batter minimum, what happens when a reliever is getting lit up? Wouldn’t that make innings drag on longer?
Yeah. But often, what they’re talking about when they say pace-of-play really should be pace-of-action. Lighting up a reliever is good entertainment. It might also mean that we don’t have to mess with the mound..
the only thing i like here is the shift rule. Im fine with shifts in general, but having more then two guys on either side of second is really bothersome in my mind.
What I find bothersome is the inability of today’s young hitters to just give a little slap down the unguarded side. That would also shut down the shifts real quick. I’d be ok with this rule though.
Or today’s hitters could realize that theres another half of a field that they could hit towards.
There is one and only one change needed in order to fix baseball. Go back to calling the way it was actually called ten to fifteen years ago.
i hate all of these. im through with this game if they go to robo umbs. fire manfred now. weasel.
Other than balls and strikes rule, just why?
Horrible!
Balls and strike rule is bs too. Best framers in game only steal 2 pitches. That’s it. Sad how Manfred is such a weasel. Ruining the game.
All of this is nonsense.
I’ve said before, the solution is to ban the arm and elbow guards. Games will go faster, pitchers won’t need to throw as hard, they will re-introduce the curve/slider, hitters will back off the plate to protect themselves AND be forced to learn how to hit to the opposite field (SHIFTS DECREASE). Thus, the game will naturally speed up and players will be playing without the advantages their predecessors did not have.
Less pitches needed to get outs plus less pitches per inning means pitchers will go deeper in games. More time cut. Will hitters be in danger? They will be in the same danger they were prior to the 1994 strike. They can stop crowding the plate and protect themselves. Hitting should always have an element of fear. It’s what makes the great hitters great.
Manfred is an embarrassment
Robot umps calling balls and strikes is the best thing baseball could do.
You couldn’t be more wrong if you tried to be
Wrong. The best framers in the game only steal 2 pitches a game. Sad what this pip squeak Manfred is doing to game. Making drastic changes for just 2 pitches. SAD. Fire Manfred
Bad experiment. Too many changes.
I really don’t care for most of this at all… and cannot for the LIFE of me believe that they’d consider moving the mound back two friggin’ FEET. If commish what’s-his-name is trying to speed up games, how does more walks and more hits accomplish that? Not to mention little things like, “Hey, Kershaw… that 12-6 curve you spent your entire career developing? Go re-learn how to throw it…”
In my opinion, that might be the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard out of a commissioner’s mouth. This puts giving the winner of the all-star game home field advantage in the world series to absolute shame in the “stupidity race.”
Commissioner and his crew have brought forth ideas that only help hitters and offense, not the pitcher. TJ surgeries will rise and that is “good” in a sense that new arms will make over $500,000 per year. It’s truly sad.
I can see some value to a few of them… perhaps the slightly bigger bag will help avoid a freak injury or two. But changing the basic parameters of the game? Stupid, as far as I see it. Again, what kind of transition do established pitchers make? You work your entire baseball life to perfect your craft and now they want to change the dimensions of the field? The “no shift” thing bothers me a lot, too. What’s next? If a guy is not good at hitting a low and away fastball, can he get those banned while he’s at bat?
The basic rules of the game have been pretty solid and effective for over a century.
I hear ya Hubcap.
M.L.B.= Mighty Lame Bureaucrats!?
Stupid is as stupid does…
MLB tries to reinvent baseball by trying dumb ideas. MLB must be run by politicians! They want to Extend the distance between the pitching rubber from 60 feet, 6 inches to 62 feet, 6 inches in the second half of the season. MLB trying this in the minors. This is soooo stupid! Pitchers are taught a specific distance from high school through the minors. Pitching depends on consistency and precision. Doesn’t MLB see how this will effect a pitcher? This is sooo stupid!
Great changes. Should have adopted metric system since distance changes are happening. Mound 19 meters, bases 27 meters, mound in center of infield. Robo-Ump is the best thing that has happened to baseball in my lifetime.
Screw the metric system
Lets make a bunch of changes to make games shorter. And then make changes to promote more offense that will make the games longer.
Exactly
Leave the electronic BS out of the game & quit trying to take the human element out of the game. — Leave the Mound at the current position because all you would do by moving the rubber back is assist the pitchers who only know how to throw the ball at a 100 MPH & hurt those pitchers who can actually pitch. — Yes relief pitchers should face 3 batters.—-Yes eliminate the shift it’s because it’s bad for the game. — As for mound visits the change I would make with that is each inning a team is allowed 1 visit either by a coach or a player on the field with a 2 visit max in any 1 inning & after a total of 3 visits then the pitcher must be removed.—– Oh Yeah I really like a proposal that I heard this week & that is for the American League to adopt the National League rule about the DH instead of the National League adopting the American League about the DH.
Wow extending the mound two feet is crazy! That’s the one I really want to see what the results are but seems to me more arm injuries and pitchers are going to get smacked! If your gonna do that move 1st and 3rd back two feet also while your at it otherwise we will create a new problem where speed guys learn finally how to bunt and we will then see averages truly spike up!
Clearly MLB should use the robot taxi driver Total Recall to make small banter like “how’s the Weather?” Or “Hellava game, isn’t it?”
The moving of the mound is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard, every player in the league is going to have to change tier mechanics over night. Every breaking ball will be off and every batters timing will be off. The only change we’ll see from that is an increase in Tommy John surgeries
Yeah….does anyone know what they’re looking into by moving the mound 24”? What’s up with the “2nd half of the season” part too??
mlb’s beginning to miss the point why fans of baseball enjoy going to games. turning players into robots will turn every purist away.. no wonder athletes prefer nfl .vs mlb
Because it pays out immediately instead of 10 years into their career?
Only in baseball that is run By an Idiot will have these changes even tested. Who in there right mind would make the Pitching Mound farther from home plate and making the bases bigger going to speed up the game?? anyone that has even played the game all know that these are stupid rules . that waste times to the league that it being used in and will affect Players that want to be promoted to a higher level so aa Pitcher with a mound farther will lose 3-4 Miles on a fast ball as well as leaving the curve ball up or bounced in the dirt and a larger base will have more players with speed on bases. and that’s counting Slow Catchers. and they are doing this for what?????? Speeding up the game!! Really . Like i said ,Only an Idiot that runs MLB and has never played the game ,would even wasted the time doing so!!!!
They’re going to move the mound in the middle of the season? Are they nuts? The walk rate is going to go through the roof. Catchers will be diving all over the place trying to stop breaking balls that suddenly have way more movement and pitchers won’t have any idea how to adjust to get those huge breaks to be anywhere near the plate. Hitters will just have to learn not to swing at anything but fastballs or the extra break on the off speed pitches will kill them.
I read through a lot of comments on this thread and it seems most people are liking the laser strike zone.
No one seems to have brought up the thought of using the laser system to keep the current umpire system accountable. I would rather see that than see them made irrelevant by the laser system.
Using a system to hold them accountable would also allow the lower levels of baseball improve by showing that umpires can use training and correction.
All the other changes are relatively useless to me. I do enjoy watching a good catcher “steal” a strike now and then. That being said it is not enjoyable to watch an umpire do such a poor job that it almost seems intentional.
they tried that with the ‘Questech’ system about a decade ago, using it as an ‘evaluation tool’ for umpires. The Union had an absolute fit.
that’s kind of the real hang up here, Umpires can’t be fired, even if you objectively prove they’re terrible at their job (the best they can do is not let Angel Hernandez ruin a playoff game, and even then it’s a lawsuit…), so ‘holding them accountable’ is a dead-end idea. They’re basically immune unless they, as a group, agree to let themselves be fired. i think you can guess what the odds of that are….
so yeah, it’s either a laser strike zone or putting up with useless egos derailing entire games.
Thanks for the reminder that they have tried.
I actually love the catcher/umpire cat and mouse game that happens in a game. I like watching umpires with catchy punch outs. I like the human element of the game.
I know that ego can get in the way and I hope that the “we don’t need you anymore” technology pushes the umpire union to make some changes, at least for the sake of preservation.
Baseball has been and needs to continue to be a game umpired by trained people making judgement calls. That’s the way it’s been for well over 100 years and, to me, it is what makes the game. I understand there are horrible umpires who have their own idea of what a strike zone is, and MLB needs to thin these people out. But, to me, you can’t take away the ability of the umpire to call a game because their call may be “overturned”. Leave the game and the rules alone. If you ask me what’s wrong with baseball today, I’d tell you it’s Rob Manfred.
Leave the game alone!
so it can die in peace?
I’d like to hear an umpire’s take on pitch framing, … the idea that their calls can be influenced by a catcher’s handling of a pitch.
Any ump who says pitch framing makes a difference to his calls is basically admitting how flawed the existing approach is.
A shift has always been apart but the issue is teams are shifting on every player not just really good players
I am going to have the privilege of watching these experiments live and in living color. The New Britain Bees play in the excellent Double-AA park that was home to the New Britain Rock Cats for 2o years before the franchise moved to Hartford in 2016. I live just a couple of miles away and always had a partial season ticket but have not been since organized ball left. I am looking forward to robotic balls and strikes and the 62’6″ distance from the rubber to the plate. The rest has little interest.
I can see instituting some sort of “illegal defense” rule.
The rest are stupid…
Unless it is cold or raining, I rarely find myself thinking, “man! This baseball game is too long! I wish I could go home, instead of being at an MLB stadium!”
If there were to ever be a robotic strike zone, I hope the umpires get to retain some sort of freedom in enlarging the zone once a game gets out of hand.
yes, do the umpires hear the strike call in their ear set but get to ignore it if they see fit? I’m not sure I see what the umpire’s job is here but to voice the call of a robot.
I like them all besides moving the mound back 2′ let’s start with 12″ first.
Would adding 3″ on the bases help Manny to not kick guys legs? The guy can surely play, but will it be enough
Love the pitcher has to face at least three hitters or get to the end of the inning.
I guess if you are a rag arm lefty you hate it, but, all of the changes in innings 6 through 9 have taken away offense late in the game.
Love the fact that the pitcher has to face at least three hitters or get to the end of the inning.
I guess if you are a rag arm lefty you hate it, but, all of the changes in innings 6 through 9 have taken away offense late in the game.
Do all that for maybe 3 min per team, for total difference of 6 min difference ..What bull just so they can say they are trying to shorting game..
This rules are leaving the fans they already have behind and trying to attract new fans. Thanks manfred, baseball will not look like baseball when you’re done with it