i like it. no more cool stories about how the game went to the 22nd inning and it was horrible for everyone involved, but otherwise, in addition to cutting down on game time, it adds some tension to every extra inning
― President of Destiny Encounters International (Karl Malone), Monday, 13 February 2023 18:56 (one year ago) link
still not sure how it speeds up games, given that both teams get the same "advantage" but i'm sure that was all litigated last year
― na (NA), Monday, 13 February 2023 18:57 (one year ago) link
The competition committee also voted unanimously to allow position players to pitch only in extra innings, in the ninth inning when leading team is up by 10 or more runs or anytime when the trailing team is down by 8 or more.— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) February 13, 2023
― mookieproof, Monday, 13 February 2023 19:00 (one year ago) link
runs per nine innings of regular baseball is (for both teams) 8-something; with the runner starting on second it’s 20-something
― mookieproof, Monday, 13 February 2023 19:06 (one year ago) link
I don't like it--for me, it just bends the basic game out of shape too much. And even though this is demonstrably not true, it always feels like the road team has an advantage (i.e., my guess is the home team is playing from behind more often than not).
― clemenza, Monday, 13 February 2023 19:12 (one year ago) link
Why fucking limit when position players can pitch?! It’s not like teams are doing this for fun. Also won’t this really inhibit any more two-way players?
― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Monday, 13 February 2023 19:41 (one year ago) link
won’t this really inhibit any more two-way players?
nah
― mookieproof, Monday, 13 February 2023 19:43 (one year ago) link
Only heard a few days ago that they're going to go back to strictly enforcing the balk rule(s) this year. 1) I hope Gausman's not affected too much--there was a game last year where the home-plate ump was just lying in wait for him. 2) They did this one year in the late '80s and it was crazy; balks went up by a few hundred percent, then they ditched that and everything went back to normal the next season.
― clemenza, Wednesday, 22 February 2023 14:52 (one year ago) link
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fpwi3bnX0AEZHrp?format=jpg&name=900x900
if this is what it's going to look like in ML parks... i hate this
i know i'm not representative of the general population but my brain is genuinely incapable of tuning something like that out, it's going to be a nonstop battle to keep my attention on the plate
― ✖, Friday, 24 February 2023 21:09 (one year ago) link
San Diego Padres star Manny Machado committed the first pitch-clock violation in a spring-training game, getting docked a strike because he was not set and facing the pitcher in the batter's box when the clock reached 8 seconds.
― mookieproof, Friday, 24 February 2023 21:24 (one year ago) link
that’s not goodplenty of other sports have time limits on things like foul shots and snaps and thereis zero reason to ever present that information to the viewer
― Tracer Hand, Friday, 24 February 2023 22:33 (one year ago) link
xpostenforcing the rule IS good imo
Yeah I support the pitch clock but I don't want to be aware of it ever
― ✖, Friday, 24 February 2023 22:48 (one year ago) link
From the sound of it it barely even registered in the minors once the players got used to it
― ✖, Friday, 24 February 2023 22:49 (one year ago) link
i am pretty sure that, if any stadium includes the pitch clock indicator in the view of the tv cameras, they'll change that quickly
― z_tbd, Friday, 24 February 2023 23:25 (one year ago) link
Just turned into MLB Network and they called someone out or third strike for not being ready. 6 -6 bottom of the ninth. Braves vs Red Sox.
― Bee OK, Saturday, 25 February 2023 20:46 (one year ago) link
Wow
Small sample but through 10 spring training games the average time of game is 2h 34m. That last time MLB games were faster for a season was 1978 (2h30m).— Travis Sawchik (@Travis_Sawchik) February 25, 2023
― mookieproof, Saturday, 25 February 2023 22:22 (one year ago) link
This is a person who has never watched ST baseball:
Do you happen to know what the average time was for spring training games? I have always felt like they were quicker than regular season games.— Dan Schrage (@DSchrage) February 25, 2023
― Its big ball chunky time (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Saturday, 25 February 2023 22:55 (one year ago) link
Cal Conley does not get set in time and gets called for the strikeout and the game ends pic.twitter.com/rQ8KOv0Sa6— Gaurav (@gvedak) February 25, 2023
― Bee OK, Saturday, 25 February 2023 23:07 (one year ago) link
i mean...arguably just get in the box and be ready with 8 seconds to go imo
― z_tbd, Saturday, 25 February 2023 23:49 (one year ago) link
well this sucks
https://www.mlb.com/news/luis-garcia-to-adjust-windup-due-to-2023-rule-changes
― Tracer Hand, Monday, 27 February 2023 10:35 (one year ago) link
For those concerned that the pitch clock is so prominent in the background of at-bats during spring-training games: The plan in big league ballparks is for it to be out of view of the center-field camera. In other words: TV viewers will not see the physical clock during pitches.— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 25, 2023
― na (NA), Tuesday, 28 February 2023 17:31 (one year ago) link
cherry picked clips, of course, but
Landon Knack throwing an entire half inning vs. Pedro Báez throwing 1 pitch. pic.twitter.com/wHa2p6K7k8— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) February 27, 2023
― z_tbd, Thursday, 2 March 2023 16:03 (one year ago) link
Yankees relief pitcher Wandy Peralta struck out a hitter in 20 seconds pic.twitter.com/VwEBzyXH99— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) March 2, 2023
― na (NA), Friday, 3 March 2023 15:50 (one year ago) link
i love it! and you know what i think i’m going to love it in the post-season too. bring on the craziness.
― Tracer Hand, Friday, 3 March 2023 16:57 (one year ago) link
yeah the pitch clock seems good so far. there are going to be some dumb controversial calls at crucial moments ("how can a playoff game end this way" etc) but the games i've watched seem a lot peppier for sure
― na (NA), Friday, 3 March 2023 17:27 (one year ago) link
Max Scherzer, Pitch Clock Gamesmanship.Long hold. Adams takes his only time out. Then Max stays set so he can pitch as soon as Adams is ready. pic.twitter.com/3uj9ucDFEl— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 3, 2023
― na (NA), Friday, 3 March 2023 18:48 (one year ago) link
Gausman and the balk rule (paywall maybe, not sure):
https://theathletic.com/4277023/2023/03/06/kevin-gausman-delivery-rule-change-balks/
"...it’s a problem for Gausman, because he’s currently starring in a not-so-major motion picture from MLB’s new 'Mess with Your Dreamworks' studios.
It’s a little video feature, shown by MLB to managers and media alike this spring, on now-illegal pitching deliveries. And it stars Gausman, along with Houston righty Luis Garcia, as toe-tappers or false-starters whose old delivery is now considered by MLB to be a balk."
― clemenza, Tuesday, 7 March 2023 16:45 (one year ago) link
I’m watching a spring training game in which 9 runs have already scored, and we’re heading into the bottom of the 7th, and just passed 2 hours of game time. This shit appears to be working
― Tracer Hand, Monday, 20 March 2023 19:07 (one year ago) link
That Scherzer clip above is so funny. What a maniac!
― can i play with march madness? (PBKR), Monday, 20 March 2023 19:29 (one year ago) link
watching white sox/a’s spring training game and the chyron has the pitch clock but not the number of outs
― na (NA), Friday, 24 March 2023 22:19 (one year ago) link
The Tigers and Guardians played a doubleheader in four hours, 13 minutes.
― Andy K, Wednesday, 19 April 2023 01:07 (one year ago) link
!!
― Michael F Gill, Wednesday, 19 April 2023 01:12 (one year ago) link
https://www.espn.co.uk/mlb/story/_/id/36226372/mlb-eyes-more-rule-changes-experiment-atlantic-league
Thoughts?
― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 19 April 2023 03:30 (one year ago) link
overkill, by a lot
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 19 April 2023 04:56 (one year ago) link
Love baseball’s commitment to bad science
― Its big ball chunky time (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Wednesday, 19 April 2023 11:03 (one year ago) link
i don’t understand why lowering the mound 6 inches is never on the cards
― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 19 April 2023 17:58 (one year ago) link
good long article on ABS. this jumped out at me:
Until recently, the technology and application had been substandard -- including a previous version, used in the 2019 Arizona Fall League, that was laughably bad, with curveballs that clipped the bottom front of the zone hitting the plate and being called strikes. MLB scuttled that three-dimensional zone for 2D, upgraded to the Hawk-Eye system best known for its incredibly accurate line-calling in tennis and installed a dozen cameras calibrated to the fixed items on the field -- home plate and the chalked baselines -- that capture the flight of the ball at 330 frames per second.
does that mean the strike zone is no longer defined as a pentagonal solid??
― Tracer Hand, Thursday, 25 May 2023 17:15 (one year ago) link
sorry, link: https://www.espn.com/mlb/insider/insider/story/_/id/37721995/robo-umps-automated-balls-strikes-abs-future-mlb-minor-leagues
― Tracer Hand, Thursday, 25 May 2023 17:16 (one year ago) link
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/how-have-the-new-rules-changed-the-game/
so far, mostly good, it seems.
...For the most part, I think MLB’s rule changes have been a success. The main observable change is tempo; games are lasting less time despite a similar amount of action. That’s a big change, and as measured by pitch violations, it hasn’t excessively affected any particular team or player. Instead, the game is just moving faster, which was the stated goal of the changes.Changing the rules to increase stolen bases seems to have worked roughly as expected: Teams are running more frequently and with more success. Those steals aren’t making the game unrecognizable, though; we’re talking about an extra half a steal per game, give or take. I think there was reason to worry whether steals would become undefendable, but the evidence suggests that hasn’t happened. Catchers who control the running game are more valuable than in recent years, but that’s also hardly an unwelcome change. For the most part, I think that the extra steals leave the game looking like a slightly faster version of itself, just like the pitch timer changes.On the downside, the new restrictions on infield shifts haven’t accomplished much of anything. Lefties are reaching base more frequently when they put the ball on the ground, but not at pre-shift rates. Defensive positioning is still taking hits away, particularly in the middle of the field. Righty batters still have a slight BABIP advantage on lefties thanks to infield positioning. If the league wants to fix that disparity, there will have to be stricter shift restrictions, probably centered around keeping the area behind second base empty.If you were hoping for mostly the same baseball, congratulations: you’ve got it. If you were hoping for teams to start prioritizing speedy lefty singles hitters, or for batters to start trying to keep the ball on the ground to take advantage of the new defensive restrictions, that hasn’t panned out. Teams are scoring more this year, but that’s mostly unrelated to rules changes. I think that’s great; from my perspective, the league has threaded the needle by affecting how games look without putting their thumb on the scale of offensive and defensive balance.
Changing the rules to increase stolen bases seems to have worked roughly as expected: Teams are running more frequently and with more success. Those steals aren’t making the game unrecognizable, though; we’re talking about an extra half a steal per game, give or take. I think there was reason to worry whether steals would become undefendable, but the evidence suggests that hasn’t happened. Catchers who control the running game are more valuable than in recent years, but that’s also hardly an unwelcome change. For the most part, I think that the extra steals leave the game looking like a slightly faster version of itself, just like the pitch timer changes.
On the downside, the new restrictions on infield shifts haven’t accomplished much of anything. Lefties are reaching base more frequently when they put the ball on the ground, but not at pre-shift rates. Defensive positioning is still taking hits away, particularly in the middle of the field. Righty batters still have a slight BABIP advantage on lefties thanks to infield positioning. If the league wants to fix that disparity, there will have to be stricter shift restrictions, probably centered around keeping the area behind second base empty.
If you were hoping for mostly the same baseball, congratulations: you’ve got it. If you were hoping for teams to start prioritizing speedy lefty singles hitters, or for batters to start trying to keep the ball on the ground to take advantage of the new defensive restrictions, that hasn’t panned out. Teams are scoring more this year, but that’s mostly unrelated to rules changes. I think that’s great; from my perspective, the league has threaded the needle by affecting how games look without putting their thumb on the scale of offensive and defensive balance.
― z_tbd, Wednesday, 31 May 2023 15:47 (eleven months ago) link
There was an observation on EW about how the BA points gained by LH batters are lost in the aggregate because teams ALSO cant shift against righties, which reenforces the belief that shifting righties doesn’t really work
― Its big ball chunky time (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Wednesday, 31 May 2023 16:24 (eleven months ago) link
My favorite thing about the pitch clock is that there's no time to replay the pitch I just saw. Keep the camera on the action, such as it is.
― The Terroir of Tiny Town (WmC), Sunday, 11 June 2023 18:18 (eleven months ago) link
They've gotten better at showing replays within the allotted time, gave them fits at the beginning of the year
― Tracer Hand, Sunday, 11 June 2023 18:52 (eleven months ago) link
Braves aren't showing replays on balls in play if they're just groundouts or flyouts. Arcia just went out to short center to make a nice over the shoulder catch, no replay. I'm really loving this -- it more closely matches the experience of being at the park.
― The Terroir of Tiny Town (WmC), Sunday, 11 June 2023 19:12 (eleven months ago) link