2020 MLB Rule Changes

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[donniesyracuse]

I am glad that they followed through with all of these.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Next up, let's tackle baseball's unwritten rules.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

I am glad that they followed through with all of these.

The key to speeding up the game is some sort of pitch calling technology that doesnt require visual signs .. nothing to steal and reduction in Annoying mound visits / batters and pitchers stepping out of the box / off the rubber etc

 

[Fat tire 13]

The key to speeding up the game is some sort of pitch calling technology that doesnt require visual signs .. nothing to steal and reduction in Annoying mound visits / batters and pitchers stepping out of the box / off the rubber etc

Like maybe a little buzzer??!? The catcher could push a button and buzz a certain amount of times for the pitch.

Seriously though, I think your suggestion is spot on.

 

[Fat tire 13]

Went down a rabbit hole since Baseball reference has some detailed data on game lengths. It would be great if MLB could get the average back down from 3+ hours back to around 2:45.

How do you do that? The conclusion is not surprising but at least you have the data to back it up

Major League Miscellaneous Year-by-Year Averages and Totals | Baseball-Reference.com

League year-by-year totals for pitching, fielding, batting and team win totals.

www.baseball-reference.com

If you look at the data, the constantly increasing variable is number of pitchers per game. It has gone from the mid 2s to the low 4s over the past 30-40 years. The 3 batter minimum should help

The other variables - runs, plate appearances, etc have barely changed or been more of a range

Then you look at time between pitches

The Worst Offenders of Baseball's Biggest Problem: The Game's Still Too Slow!

For the most part, Major League Baseball is perfectly healthy. The league pulled in nearly $10 billion in revenue last season, a s Maury Brown of Forbes reported ...

bleacherreport.com

2 seconds over 10 years may not seem like much. But if you see ~300 pitches per game, that adds around 10 minutes per game right there. Minor leagues use a pitch clock. I think tougher sell for MLB

But will improved communication decrease time? Hopefully

Those seems like the two best ways to reduce total time. Because everyone knows TV commercial time will never be cut back.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

Went down a rabbit hole since Baseball reference has some detailed data on game lengths. It would be great if MLB could get the average back down from 3+ hours back to around 2:45.

How do you do that? The conclusion is not surprising but at least you have the data to back it up

Major League Miscellaneous Year-by-Year Averages and Totals | Baseball-Reference.com

League year-by-year totals for pitching, fielding, batting and team win totals.

www.baseball-reference.com

If you look at the data, the constantly increasing variable is number of pitchers per game. It has gone from the mid 2s to the low 4s over the past 30-40 years. The 3 batter minimum should help

The other variables - runs, plate appearances, etc have barely changed or been more of a range

Then you look at time between pitches

The Worst Offenders of Baseball's Biggest Problem: The Game's Still Too Slow!

For the most part, Major League Baseball is perfectly healthy. The league pulled in nearly $10 billion in revenue last season, a s Maury Brown of Forbes reported ...

bleacherreport.com

2 seconds over 10 years may not seem like much. But if you see ~300 pitches per game, that adds around 10 minutes per game right there. Minor leagues use a pitch clock. I think tougher sell for MLB

But will improved communication decrease time? Hopefully

Those seems like the two best ways to reduce total time. Because everyone knows TV commercial time will never be cut back.

For sure the fear of sign stealing had severely impacted game flow and time.. and as we see ... they’re right to be paranoid about it

 

[Noexcuse]

Call the two way player designation "The Ohtani Rule". I wonder if teams will look for similar types of players to get around the 13 pitcher rule.

 

[Hoo's That]

The easiest way to speed up the game is for the umpires not to give time out to let the batter step out of the box after every pitch. They don't step out for their rituals during batting practice, so it's not something they need to do or they can't hit without stepping out. I keep saying is that all it would take is one called strike while a batter is out of the box without the TO and it would end. And if the batter or anyone else argues about it, they're out of the game for arguing balls and strikes.

 

[upperdeck]

you want to speed the game up. make the plate larger. less pitches taken, faster game.

 

[jncuse]

Just noticed this.

The 3 batter minimum is a fairly massive rule change. This will certainly hurt the value of the lefty specialist. Teams will still keep them because they have 13 pitchers to carry, but I expect the games played for some will go way down.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

you want to speed the game up. make the plate larger. less pitches taken, faster game.

You’re joking right ? You expect them to adjust to a new plate having learned the game from youth at its current size ?

Even then I doubt it would work .. pitchers will just nibble on the corners further out

 

[KellySyracuse]

Just noticed this.

The 3 batter minimum is a fairly massive rule change. This will certainly hurt the value of the lefty specialist. Teams will still keep them because they have 13 pitchers to carry, but I expect the games played for some will go way down.

it's going to take a lot more planning and strategy on the manager's part with this rule.

 

[CA Monk]

Hallelujah.