MLB rules are changing and players aren't happy about it

[ap215]

MLB rules are changing and players aren't happy about it

(CNN) Major League Baseball announced Friday three rules changes to take effect in the 2023 season, after receiving a majority vote from the Competition Committee. The players union has expressed disapproval of two of the new rules.

A pitch timer will limit the amount of time a pitcher can take between pitches. Pitchers will have up to 15 seconds between pitches when the bases are empty and up to 20 seconds between pitches with at least one runner on base. The change is expected to speed up the pace of play and shorten game times.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/09/sport/ml ... index.html

[Number6]

I have no problems with the rules changes. A 15 second clock on pitchers with no one on-base and a 20 second clock when there is a base runner sounds good. Eliminating the "shift" and requiring two infielders on each side of second base and all infielders within the outer boundary of the infield, I could go either way with. Banning the "shift" should help produce runs and if the "shift" were allowed it would be up to the manager to decide. If larger bases means fewer injuries then it will be good.

It'll be interesting to see how these new rules affect the game next season.

[Libertas]

Timer good..

Shift rule? I didnt know the "shift" was a big deal until I saw people talking about it, my cousin was a baseball payer and a ball boy for the Giants in the 60's and he pointed out the advantage the shift has on defense.

Bigger bases also good.

I cant watch a game usually because of how slow they are, so I ff until I see a score change and watch that...this timer will help.

[Bludogdem]

More runs and higher batting averages.

[ZoWie]

The shift is fairly new by comparison. It may or may not be reason for less batting to get on base, rather than just swinging for the fences. We also have the whole hangup on aggregate statistics that started with Billy Ball and now dovetails neatly with data processing, number crunching, and the general surrender to metrics in all things.

There's also the legend that batting averages don't matter, when of course they do if you want more interesting games. Like in most sports, the perfect game would be a 0-0 tie, but not many people would pay to see those.

[Libertas]

The shift is fairly new by comparison. It may or may not be reason for less batting to get on base, rather than just swinging for the fences. We also have the whole hangup on aggregate statistics that started with Billy Ball and now dovetails neatly with data processing, number crunching, and the general surrender to metrics in all things.

There's also the legend that batting averages don't matter, when of course they do if you want more interesting games. Like in most sports, the perfect game would be a 0-0 tie, but not many people would pay to see those.

I had not heard of

the shift

before last year because I guess I just don't pay attention very well, and when I do watch a baseball game I Fast forward through most of it, but I am a long time fan I actually saw Juan Marichal pitch against Sandy Koufax if you can believe that.

But it makes you wonder why they weren't doing the shift all along for many many years, I'm assuming it's a relatively new thing like past 10 or 20 years?

[ZoWie]

The shift became a big thing in about the last 5 years, and the number of base hits started going down, so batters started swinging for the fences.