MLB rules changes, Major League Baseball on Friday announced significant rules changes intended to speed up the pace of the game, moves that will revamp the instant-replay process and address the steady increase in average game time.
The changes, announced jointly by MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association, will require hitters to keep one foot in the batter’s box, create a time limit for breaks between innings and streamline the process of challenging a call on the field. MLB, the MLBPA and the World Umpires Association have agreed on the changes, which will begin in spring training, and they will evaluate the results after the season.
“The most fundamental starting point for improving the pace of the average game involves getting into and out of breaks seamlessly,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a news release. “In addition, the batter’s box rule will help speed up a basic action of the game.”Former commissioner Bud Selig created a committee, chaired by Atlanta Braves president John Schuerholz, in September to study the issue. The time of the average game has increased from 2 hours, 33 minutes in 1981 to 3 hours, 2 minutes last season. MLB tested similar pace-of-game rules this offseason in the Arizona Fall League, a finishing school for top prospects. Class AA and Class AAA games will include a pitch clock this season.
“It is not an objective of ours to achieve a dramatic time reduction right away; it is more important to develop a culture of better habits and a structure with more exact timings for non-game action,” Mr. Schuerholz said in the release.
Just as important as the length of the games is the rate at which they progress. Baseball already contains inherent dead time, and little can be done to speed up an 11-8, 12-inning slugfest. The slower games become even more of a problem when taking into account the decrease in runs scored and increase in strikeouts. League-wide attendance has decreased in each of the past two seasons and baseball has the fewest television viewers under 35 in the four major professional sports, according to Nielsen data from 2013.
“It comes back to the pace of the game,” Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said. “A 2-1 game shouldn't take three-plus hours. We're supportive of commissioner Manfred and his attempts to increase the feel of the game and decrease some of the dead time of the game.”
The new rules mandate that a batter keep one foot in the box except for certain situations, such as after a foul ball or a high-and-tight pitch that forces him off the plate. This is aimed at the adjustments to the batting gloves, removal of dirt from the cleats and practice swings that often take place between pitches.
“It's just habit,” said Josh Harrison, who has a relatively lengthy routine. “Some people have certain things that they don't even realize they do just because you've done it so much.”
Two clocks, one near the outfield scoreboard and another behind home plate, will be installed in each ballpark to keep the game on pace between innings. Teams will have 2 minutes, 25 seconds between innings, 2:45 for nationally televised games. Pitchers must complete their warm-up pitches with at least 30 seconds remaining. Batters have to enter the box with at least five seconds on the clock and the pitcher must start his delivery before time expires.
“When you’re playing, especially when you’re pitching, you're not trying to get the game over with,” said Pirates top prospect Tyler Glasnow, who pitched with the experimental rules in the Arizona Fall League. “It’s more for the fans, I guess. It’s been like this for hundreds of years, it just seems so weird that they’re going to change it now.”
Violations will result in warnings and fines, which ESPN reported will be as much as $500. The penalties will not be in effect during spring training or the month of April.
“To be more efficient, to continue to move the game at a good pace is something that's going to help the game,” said Neil Walker, the Pirates’ union representative.
Managers now retain their challenges as long as they continue to successfully overturn calls, rather than gaining only one additional challenge as they did when replay expanded in 2014. In the playoffs, during regular-season tiebreakers and in the All-Star Game, which determines home-field advantage in the World Series, managers will start with two challenges rather than one.
Managers also are able to challenge calls from the top step of the dugout rather than by approaching the umpire, a measure intended to get rid of the slow walk on the field while the video coordinator in the clubhouse reviews the call and tells coaches in the dugout whether or not to challenge.
“There’s still going to be appropriate time to be able to review the play, to be able to make the determination, and you take away one of the more awkward parts of the games last year,” Mr. Huntington said.
Pirates manager Clint Hurdle, the main person affected by the replay changes, was overseeing a workout when the new rules were announced Friday morning and had not reviewed them. He wanted to do so before commenting.
Dan Wolfe, a 62-year-old Kittanning resident who attends 15 to 20 Pirates games a year and travels to spring training for about a month, said he noticed that the games were getting longer, but that it wouldn’t stop him from attending.
“It seems like so many guys step out of the box almost every pitch,” he said.
The changes, announced jointly by MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association, will require hitters to keep one foot in the batter’s box, create a time limit for breaks between innings and streamline the process of challenging a call on the field. MLB, the MLBPA and the World Umpires Association have agreed on the changes, which will begin in spring training, and they will evaluate the results after the season.
“The most fundamental starting point for improving the pace of the average game involves getting into and out of breaks seamlessly,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a news release. “In addition, the batter’s box rule will help speed up a basic action of the game.”Former commissioner Bud Selig created a committee, chaired by Atlanta Braves president John Schuerholz, in September to study the issue. The time of the average game has increased from 2 hours, 33 minutes in 1981 to 3 hours, 2 minutes last season. MLB tested similar pace-of-game rules this offseason in the Arizona Fall League, a finishing school for top prospects. Class AA and Class AAA games will include a pitch clock this season.
“It is not an objective of ours to achieve a dramatic time reduction right away; it is more important to develop a culture of better habits and a structure with more exact timings for non-game action,” Mr. Schuerholz said in the release.
Just as important as the length of the games is the rate at which they progress. Baseball already contains inherent dead time, and little can be done to speed up an 11-8, 12-inning slugfest. The slower games become even more of a problem when taking into account the decrease in runs scored and increase in strikeouts. League-wide attendance has decreased in each of the past two seasons and baseball has the fewest television viewers under 35 in the four major professional sports, according to Nielsen data from 2013.
“It comes back to the pace of the game,” Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said. “A 2-1 game shouldn't take three-plus hours. We're supportive of commissioner Manfred and his attempts to increase the feel of the game and decrease some of the dead time of the game.”
The new rules mandate that a batter keep one foot in the box except for certain situations, such as after a foul ball or a high-and-tight pitch that forces him off the plate. This is aimed at the adjustments to the batting gloves, removal of dirt from the cleats and practice swings that often take place between pitches.
“It's just habit,” said Josh Harrison, who has a relatively lengthy routine. “Some people have certain things that they don't even realize they do just because you've done it so much.”
Two clocks, one near the outfield scoreboard and another behind home plate, will be installed in each ballpark to keep the game on pace between innings. Teams will have 2 minutes, 25 seconds between innings, 2:45 for nationally televised games. Pitchers must complete their warm-up pitches with at least 30 seconds remaining. Batters have to enter the box with at least five seconds on the clock and the pitcher must start his delivery before time expires.
“When you’re playing, especially when you’re pitching, you're not trying to get the game over with,” said Pirates top prospect Tyler Glasnow, who pitched with the experimental rules in the Arizona Fall League. “It’s more for the fans, I guess. It’s been like this for hundreds of years, it just seems so weird that they’re going to change it now.”
Violations will result in warnings and fines, which ESPN reported will be as much as $500. The penalties will not be in effect during spring training or the month of April.
“To be more efficient, to continue to move the game at a good pace is something that's going to help the game,” said Neil Walker, the Pirates’ union representative.
Managers now retain their challenges as long as they continue to successfully overturn calls, rather than gaining only one additional challenge as they did when replay expanded in 2014. In the playoffs, during regular-season tiebreakers and in the All-Star Game, which determines home-field advantage in the World Series, managers will start with two challenges rather than one.
Managers also are able to challenge calls from the top step of the dugout rather than by approaching the umpire, a measure intended to get rid of the slow walk on the field while the video coordinator in the clubhouse reviews the call and tells coaches in the dugout whether or not to challenge.
“There’s still going to be appropriate time to be able to review the play, to be able to make the determination, and you take away one of the more awkward parts of the games last year,” Mr. Huntington said.
Pirates manager Clint Hurdle, the main person affected by the replay changes, was overseeing a workout when the new rules were announced Friday morning and had not reviewed them. He wanted to do so before commenting.
Dan Wolfe, a 62-year-old Kittanning resident who attends 15 to 20 Pirates games a year and travels to spring training for about a month, said he noticed that the games were getting longer, but that it wouldn’t stop him from attending.
“It seems like so many guys step out of the box almost every pitch,” he said.
