MLB announces rule changes for 2018 season that have some scratching their heads
Everyone’s familiar with the old adage, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
That being said, if you can’t fix it, you probably shouldn’t bother with minor tinkering.
Some baseball fans are wishing Major League Baseball would do just butt out after the league unveiled some new rules to impact pace-of-play.
At its face, there’s nothing wrong with trying to speed up games.
The length of baseball games has long been considered a barrier to getting young fans to watch and attend more games.
It may not be a problem for all, but it would behoove baseball if it could placate those complaining fans.
The new rules that MLB revealed on Monday? Well, it’s hard not to view them as anything other than a giant step sideways.
That’s led to quite a few fans asking, “Why bother?”
The big change, starting this season, is the hard limit MLB is placing on visits to the mound in situations where a pitching change is not being made. Teams will only be allowed six visits per nine innings, with one additional mound visit per each extra inning played.
After using up six mound visits, catchers will have the option to request an additional mound visit from the umpires, but only if they are getting badly crossed up on signals with the pitcher. The granting of additional mound visits will be up to the discretion of the umpire.
The length of breaks between half innings will remain at 2:05. However, umpires will now instruct pitchers and hitters to begin getting ready when there is about 20 seconds left in the break. The idea is to have to have pitchers and hitters ready to go the instant the break is over.
Pitchers are also no longer guaranteed eight warm-up pitches between innings, but they will be allowed to throw as many warm-up pitches as they want in the allotted time.
Pitching changes will also be sped up, and a countdown clock will begin as soon as the relief pitcher crosses the warning track on his way to the mound.
Finally, all clubs will directly receive slow-motion video of disputable calls. The idea is to speed up challenges and their ensuing reviews.
Many MLB fans wanting a brisker pace of play had been asking for a pitch clock. That will not be part of the new rules.
In all, the changes could contribute to about six or eight fewer minutes in a game, with the big time-saver being having pitchers and hitters ready directly out of the break.
Are additional rules really worth less than 10 minutes being saved in a baseball game? Giving umpires more decision-making powers about additional mound visits and enforcing hitters and pitchers to follow inning-break timelines just seems like opening a can of worms and subjecting umpires to even more controversy.
Ultimately, MLB’s new rules don’t necessarily hurt the pace-of-play. But it’s fair to ask if they truly help in any demonstrable way.
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