New Rules... Much ado about nothing
Entry posted by Doc Munson in Hot Stove ·
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Twins Video
Just reviewing some of the new rules being implemented in 2024. and a couple of them seem to be pointless. Yes, I do actually get the Irony of me spending time talking about a rule change i know will have zero impact.
I first have to also admit, that I am sure even rules chances focused on the speed of the game will not "ruin the game" as I had previously whined about prior to the pitch clock. OF course I think there are more "natural" ways to speed up the game, but really the pitch clock was a huge success and had minimal, if any impact on the enjoyment of the game in a negative way.
But lets review new changes. and give them a 1-10 score on impacting the desired outcome
1) pitch clock going from 20 seconds to 18 seconds with a runner on base. OK i get it there was no impact in adding the clock to begin with, so lets whittle it down a touch. Basically trying to tweak it until you hit the inflection point. BUT dropping from 20 to 18 seconds when the average when MLB data shows that on average pitchers delivered the ball with 7.3 seconds left when runners were on base just doesn't seem like there will be much of an impact on the pace of games. If they were delivering with less than 2 seconds left, then yes that would impact the pace. IMPACT ON PACE OF PLAY = 0 ok maybe a 1
2) Dead Ball clock usage. last year in dead ball situation, the pitch clock did not start until the pitcher took the mound, this year it will start when the pitcher is given a new ball and play is ready to be resumed. I THINK this could have a impact on pace of the game. But I am not sure really how/when "play is ready to be resumed" is determined. SO I cannot answer that. BUT I could imagine that many pitchers last year took that dead ball time as a bit of a breather and took a few seconds to wait to get on the mound before the pitch clock was reset. So even a 2-3 second savings for each dead ball situation could have a BIG impact on the pace of a game. IMPACT ON PACE OF PLAY = 9
3) clock resetting to 2 minutes instead of 2:15 on pitching changes, at least on changes where the relief pitcher is slow to enter teh game. with 6-8 pitching changes per game, at 15 seconds per change that is not a HUGE savings, and it is during dead time so will not speed p the actual game play. IMPACT ON PACE OF PLAY = 2
4) If a pitcher warms up before an inning they must now face at least 1 batter. OK I can understand the point behind it, but really why is there a need to create this rule? MLB themselves said this happened 24 times last year. with about 2600 total games played and it happened 24 times, that less than 1% of the games, you need to make a rule about it? I am not doing a deep dive, but how many of these were then a result of a team having a quick scoring outburst the inning before, and thus nti allowing the relief pitcher time to get up and warmed up in the bullpen prior to the start of the next inning? Personally I am in the camp of you say "the manager needs to manage around that situation", there will be numerous "player safety" people who will say it help protect the pitchers, and you cant put pitchers in who are not sufficiently warmed up. Either way with less than 1% of games experiencing this... IMAPCT ON PACE OF PLAY = 0
5) Mound visits dropping from 5 to 4. again like some of the others, will have minimal if any impact as teams averaged 2.3 visits per game, so again what is the point? IMAPCT ON PACE OF PLAY = 0
6) Widening basepath to 1B. So now instead of making the runner run in foul territory to help prevent collisions at 1B, runners are now allowed to run inside the baseline???? This one subtly intrigues me. while the "safety of the players" people will hate this, as all it will do is increase the chances of the 1B/runner collisions, I think this could also impact how the game is played. Did they change this to increase bunting??? if runners can now "legally" run inside the expanded baseline, is this to incentive bunting and running inside to block the path of a throw? Could this be a rule that while allowing the runner to run inside actually also allow umpires MORE clarity on calling people OUT for interference in blatant situations? I.E. if they expand the inside of the baseline an allow runners to run there but at the same more clearly defining it so where if a player even TOUCHES the grass while running to 1st then they are out, well then THAT would make the calls significantly easier for the umps. While this is not a pace of play rule, I think this COULD have significant impact on how the game is played, depending on how it is implemented, and THIS rule I am curious to see. If I am the coach of a team with speedsters I am bunting much more often and instructing them to run inside the baseline as the flight of the ball from the release of a RH throwing catcher throwing down the line is naturally to tail inside. This could set up throws down the 1B line turning outs or close bunt singles into doubles or triples.
Will be interesting to see the intended and unintended consequences of these rules in 2024;
Or a great big nothinburger.
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