the first new MLB rules since '96

ugh

what about the Johnny Bench WORLD SERIES fake-IBB strikeout?

(1972)

i was not alive but that sounds tremendous

i know ive posted it before

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TPCNP4_qXo

that's bizarre that they did that with two strikes

i am in favor of pitch clocks but very much NOT in favor of not having to actually throw the pitches for an IBB wth

As a way for all sides to save face (the commish wanted a strike zone change but ffs you can't spring that on the players on short notice in the middle of spring training), this IBB thing suits its purpose.

Grant Brisbee, like me, is concerned about the commish's "desperate urgency"

http://www.sbnation.com/2017/2/22/14693248/mlb-rule-changes-rob-manfred-intentional-walks-strike-zone

Seven-pitch-maximum at-bats -- no "staying alive" with two-strike fouls. If you can't put the ball in play and/or reach base in seven pitches or less, sit down. Three strikes of any combination -- you're out. Quicker game, starters go a little deeper. Will never happen, obv.

offense would go way way down

Tough.

^apostate

@MyKBO
Pace of Play: Will MLB make guys sprint to first after getting hit? KBO rules state player must run to 1st before removing protective gear

marchman concurs: http://deadspin.com/baseballs-new-intentional-walk-scheme-is-a-pointless-o-1792633670

my sense is that ownership is indeed frightened, in the long term, about the millennials and their tiny attention spans -- but that fright pales beside anything money-related. this seems more like manfred flexing for the union. if he can paint the union as backward and unhelpful on something relatively meaningless, maybe he can later bargain it away for something that saves owners money.

this rule change is pointless. if they really want to shorten games, enforce existing rules on leaving the batter's box, etc. allow fewer mound visits. what the hell do relievers need eight warmup pitches for? warm up in the bullpen, bitch.

(i figure we're gonna get universal DH before long, which won't shorten games either. i have made my peace with this.)

the money stuff is a constant, ongoing battle, though, and the players union has gotten rolled in the last several CBAs. i think this is mainly a feint as both sides prepare for 2021

there was a hypothetical on EW a few weeks ago re: how much it would cost for MLB to just make little league free for anyone who wants to play. you want young people to like this very difficult, often boring game u gotta start them young...

also maybe stop saying it's boring

good idea. I never would've gotten into baseball if I hadn't done little league for a few years.

Seven-pitch-maximum at-bats -- no "staying alive" with two-strike fouls. If you can't put the ball in play and/or reach base in seven pitches or less, sit down. Three strikes of any combination -- you're out. Quicker game, starters go a little deeper. Will never happen, obv.

This is utter madness, the 10-pitch AB is the tensest and best thing in all of baseball

except maybe triples

otm

take that, carter capps

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C57PENpVAAASp_-.jpg

otherwise known as the I Can't Believe We Had To Make This a Rule, What is This 2nd Grade Grow up Carter Capps Come On rule

i was gonna throw a jab in at jordan walden as well but he's probably already reaching for the whisky bottle anyway

weird. i guess two hops is bad, but Capps' single-hop is ok?

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/mlb-has-clarified-its-carter-capps-position/

Importantly, MLB determined the above delivery was legal. Based on their own interpretation of the rules, MLB gave Capps’ motion its blessing, so long as he didn’t jump *up*. It was emphasized that Capps would have to drag his back foot. So it remains.

...One hop is fine, while 2+ are not. There was Jordan Walden, and now there is Carter Capps. The way baseball explains it, there’s nothing wrong with the way Capps throws, so long as there’s something of a “drag line” in the dirt.

really don't understand why the MLB doesn't just avoid the confusion and slippery slope and just make the rule that you have to be in contact with the rubber when you release the ball. you know, the...normal way of pitching

Seven-pitch-maximum at-bats -- no "staying alive" with two-strike fouls. If you can't put the ball in play and/or reach base in seven pitches or less, sit down. Three strikes of any combination -- you're out. Quicker game, starters go a little deeper. Will never happen, obv.

― Andy K, Wednesday, February 22, 2017 12:37 PM (one week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this is the worst thing I've ever read

srsly

i'm not sure normal pitching involves being in contact with the rubber at the moment of release? the back foot coming up/off seems to happen right around the release point for most guys

yeah it's close for sure but it seems like a common sense approach can be taken. don't jump, don't do any other obvious weird shit. like basketball and traveling

I don't watch much basketball, but I gather players travel like crazy compared to a generation or more ago.

the "two steps allowed before shooting" flex has infiltrated pretty much every other aspect of dribbling

so we're all agreed that carter capps can keep pitching like that as long as he dribbles?

seems like the next logical step

bring in a long jumper, have him start on second, hit the rubber on his last jump, deliver the ball from 38 feet

'subpar stuff, but his deceptive delivery really plays up'

After months of haggling over the final details of the new collective bargaining agreement, the document is completed and now in the hands of printers, sources said. This clears the way for the pace-of-action conversations between Major League Baseball and the players' association that are destined to have a lasting impact on a sport long celebrated for its timelessness.

Baseball officials and players may ultimately embrace -- or confront -- two words that seemed unimaginable even five or 10 years ago: pitch clock. And as the union and MLB exchange ideas in the months ahead, some players privately hope that part of the solution is the advent of an electronic strike zone, which they believe could serve to move the games along as much as a time limit between pitches.

http://www.espn.com/blog/buster-olney/insider/post/_/id/16805/olney-baseball-keeps-getting-slower-but-change-will-come-by-2018

i am totally on-board with a pitch clock. automatic ball. plus actual enforcement of the batter's box rule ffs. an automatic strike if they step out. DONE. once players got used to it you'd forget it was there. imagine! an end to interminable fiddling with batting gloves, etc.

fuck an electronic strike zone though. a dramatic, physical punch-out from the ump to end an inning is one of the greatest things in baseball.

I'd be cool with a dramatic machine punch-out.

yeah i don't know if i'm ready for robo-umps

pitch clock is long overdue tho

i am wary of the "unintended consequences" of rule changes that Kevin Goldstein used to warn of on the BP podcast

(ie What Will Joe West Do)

you wouldn't be allowed to forget the pitch clock is there. mlb is obsessed with making big deals out of these things. remember when they implemented replay and treated it like a major news event every time a manager made a challenge?

if there's a pitch clock they'd force every stadium to stick a big countdown right behind the batter

there's been a pitch clock in AAA and AA for a couple years now and it's not a problem -- it almost never comes up, in fact. it's just a tool, not a revolution

I feel like the proposed mound-meeting rules unfairly target Willson Contreras, who stands to lose much from his primary form of interpersonal communication

— Jeff Sullivan (@based_ball) January 19, 2018

icymi...Brisbee

https://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2018/1/23/16923186/mlb-pitch-clock-proposal-pace-of-play

yeah bring on the pitch clock obviously

so this was weird

https://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2018/2/1/16961470/mlb-pitch-clock-rob-manfred-players

there's gonna be a lot of weird maneuvering like this as we edge toward CBA armageddon

i'm sure that manfred and management do indeed want the games to be shorter -- also pretty sure that they'd gladly jettison it as a bargaining chip for something that would save them money

CBA is low in my stack of Armageddons

if i can't see the Brett Phillips of the world make unexpected, life affirming, game winning hits

See I'd just forgotten this and then you go and bring it up

Glad they scrapped the golden at-bat, now bring back pitchers hitting.

^^^

The first rule in the book states:

1.00–OBJECTIVES OF THE GAME
1.01 Baseball is a game between two teams of nine players each, under
direction of a manager, played on an enclosed field in accordance
with these rules, under jurisdiction of one or more umpire

Lineup cards have had 10 slots since 1973 for the AL, and for all of MLB since 2022.