the first new MLB rules since '96

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

https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-announces-pace-of-play-initiatives/c-266718664

• Mound visits: Mound visits will be limited to six per team per nine innings. Teams will receive an additional visit for every extra inning played. Any manager, coach or player visit to the mound will count as a mound visit. Visits to the mound to clean cleats in rainy weather, to check on an injury or potential injury or after the announcement of an offensive substitution are excepted. Also, normal communication between player and pitcher that do not require either to vacate their position on the field do not count as a visit. If a team is out of visits, the umpire will have discretion to grant a visit at the catcher's request if he believes there has been a cross-up between the pitcher and catcher.

i don't have the stats handy but how often do teams typically visit the mound per 9 innings anyway? 6 per team doesn't really seem like it's going to change anything.

they do it a ton when games get close and into the later innings

sometimes jetes just needs to get everybody on the same page

i think i'm ok with this? i don't care about "pace of play" but it's pretty annoying when the catcher goes up after ever other pitch. i might have limited it differently but i'm ok with reducing mound visits in general.

i don't care about "pace of play" but it's pretty annoying when the catcher goes up after ever other pitch.

I think this is going to kill Julio Teheran.

Catchers Willson Contreras and Martin Maldonado are...ABOVE THE LAW

Catchers Willson Contreras and Martin Maldonado have already said they won’t follow the new mound-visit rule. Specifically, they said they are willing to pay fines rather than comply if the game is on the line.

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-mound-visit-rule-might-have-an-enforcement-problem/

clearly the catcher should be ejected

The #MLB proposed a three-batter minimum while the MLB Players Association wants a universal designated hitter in the National League https://t.co/o9kTr78lrK pic.twitter.com/y0fPf0P73h

— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) February 6, 2019

A reminder:
MLB pitchers hit .115/.144/.149 in 2018, all-time lows in all 3 slash categories.
42.2 K%, higher than A.Chapman's record as a pitcher.
They had a wRC+ of -25! And they've always been terrible. The last time they had a wRC+ better than 2018 Chris Davis (46) was 1902. pic.twitter.com/h6u95tsJ78

— James Smyth (@JamesSmyth621) February 6, 2019

how do you all feel about a three-batter minimum rule (pitchers must face at least 3 batters before being removed; intended to speed up the game by having fewer pitching changes)?

in favor tbh

yeah i think it's a good idea? seems like if teams wanted to get around it they could have pitchers feign injury after a batter or two. so now we're bringing flopping into the world of baseball. but that's probably not a huge concern.

those were exactly my first reactions, too, but i haven't really thought about it much or heard arguments to the contrary.