the first new MLB rules since '96

MLB ANNOUNCES FORMAT OF PITCH TIMER DURING SPRING TRAINING

Major League Baseball (MLB) today announced the format of a pitch timer that will be used during 2019 Spring Training games. No decision has been made on whether the timer will be used in regular season games.
A 20-second pitch timer will begin in three phases during Spring Training:
1) In the first Spring Training games, the 20-second timer will operate without enforcement so as to make players and umpires familiar with the new system.

2) Early next week, umpires will issue reminders to pitchers and hitters who violate the rule, but no ball-strike penalties will be assessed. Between innings, umpires are expected to inform the club’s field staff (manager, pitching coach or hitting coach) of any violations.

3) Later in Spring Training, and depending on the status of the negotiations with the Major League Baseball Players Association, umpires will be instructed to begin assessing ball-strike penalties for violations.

Like the rule in Minor League Baseball, the rule requires: (i) the batter to be in the batter’s box and alert to the pitcher with at least five seconds remaining on the timer; and (ii) the pitcher to begin his windup or motion to come to a set position before the 20-second timer expires (the pitch itself does not need to be thrown before the expiration of the timer). The timer will never be used on the first pitch of any at-bat and will begin running prior to the second pitch when the pitcher receives the ball from the catcher.

how has it affected base-stealing and pickoffs in the minors? anyone know?

with runners on, the clock stops when the pitcher comes set. you can stay in the set position as long as you want, so the runner(s) can't time it

ahhh

i guess this could be a thing, but i have not heard any complaints about it in the minors

So the pitch clock almost incentives batters to not stand in until five seconds are remaining. Get your practice hacks in, ice the pitcher, and then make him rush, etc.

— Travis Sawchik (@Travis_Sawchik) February 22, 2019

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/foul-balls-are-the-pace-of-play-problem-nobodys-talking-about/

Another 538 piece. Nate Silver's prescription for too many strikeouts/pitchers and slow pace of play: 10-man staff plus one "emergency" pitcher.

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/relievers-have-broken-baseball-we-have-a-plan-to-fix-it/

mlb announced an agreement with the independent atlantic league in which the latter will serve as a testing ground for various rules and perhaps equipment changes.

no timetable or specific changes have been mentioned yet, but i think at some point we're gonna see them test what happens when you move the mound back a couple feet. (i'm not sure how effective this will be because i doubt there are too many guys with a mid-90s fastball pitching in the atlantic league)

I was looking to see how far back they are moving it — is it really two feet? That seems extreme.

don't know any specifics, but 3% doesn't seem like an outrageous place to start testing

two feet would just seem to radically alter a hitter's read on breaking pitches especially, if it's that much I would expect offensive numbers to go through the roof

yeah two feet would be nuts. maybe a couple of inches - I think the issue is that it's not really physically possible to identify and hit a 105 mph fastball, right?

fwiw, i watched jordan hicks throw quite a few 103, 104, 105 mph pitches last year, with very few strikeouts. even at 60'6", hitters seemed able to at least make contact.

New Atlantic League rules in some detail: http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/26190498/robot-umps-shift-ban-coming-atlantic-league

• Extending the distance between the pitching rubber from 60 feet, 6 inches to 62 feet, 6 inches in the second half of the season

^Again this seems so completely OTT! I think I could bunt my way close to with the Mendoza line at that distance

"we're experimenting with raising the height of the rim to 12 feet"

on the one hand moving the mound midseason seems like a jarring change for players
on the other hand it would provide much better data for people evaluating how moving the mound would affect the game, because you'd have two samples with roughly the same players in similar gameshape, rather than two separate sesaons
on the other hand it seems kinda rude to MLB teams with atlantic league teams, because they have to deal with both their pitchers/hitters making changes to their technique/timing

no MLB teams have atlantic league teams, it's an independent league

nice! that leaves me with two hands again

whoa, i didn't realize there were all these other new rules in the atlantic league, too (i should have read hadrian's link):

The slate of rule changes to be implemented in the Atlantic League are as follows:

Home plate umpire assisted in calling balls and strikes by a TrackMan radar tracking system.
No mound visits permitted by players or coaches other than for pitching changes or medical issues.
Pitchers must face a minimum of three batters, or reach the end of an inning before they exit the game, unless the pitcher becomes injured.
Increase the size of 1st, 2nd and 3rd base from 15 inches square to 18 inches square.
Require two infielders to be on each side of second base when a pitch is released (if not, the ball is dead and the umpire shall call a ball).
Time between innings and pitching changes reduced from 2:05 to 1:45.
Distance from pitching rubber to home plate extended 24 inches, in the second half of the season only; with no change to mound height or shape.

Time between innings and pitching changes reduced from 2:05 to 1:45.

^ this would be great but seems highly unlikely

Wouldn't moving the mound back shorten leads and discourage base stealing? Pick-off attempts will come at a shallower angle, seems like that would cut down on runners going first-to-third, taking an extra base, etc.

I just can't believe they are even considering monkeying with the geometry of the game like this! I mean just lower the mound again if you want more contact/action.

Lots of @mlb rule changes for 2019 and 2020: pic.twitter.com/Bn89KReec0

— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) March 14, 2019

ok pitching to a minimum of three hitters or until the end of a half inning makes this more palatable

Only five mound visits now instead of six--they're getting serious about speeding things up.

"Position players will be prohibited from pitching in games that don’t go into extra innings, unless a team is ahead or behind by at least eight runs." - i mean, fine, but i don't really get why this has to be a rule

I think it has something to do w/ preventing teams from manipulating the new pitcher/position player designations?

Elimination of 40 player roster, too!

Interesting changes! I'm really excited to see how the relief pitcher / opener rules pan out (in 2020).

No more waiver trades too! The trade deadline just got even more exciting.

The fact that the 40-man Sept. roster expansion doesn't reduce to 28 until 2020 increases Tim Tebow's chances of being a big leaguer.

— JJ Cooper (@jjcoop36) March 14, 2019

I call this "overmanaging"

playing Seymour Skinner re position players pitching particularly

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/mlb-announces-major-rule-changes-for-2019-and-2020/

A commenter asks:

"Not that this will be [a frequent] occurrence but I’m still waiting to see how it will be handled if a team makes two mound visits before a pitcher faces three batters. We would have one rule requiring the pitcher be removed from the game and another stating that he is not allowed to be removed. Is baseball just broken at that point?"

Oof.

What about a pitcher feigning injury? We know it doesn't count as a mound visit. But will it also allow managers to skirt 3-hitter rule? Will said pitcher be obliged to do a DL stint? So much unnecessary dumbness.

dl il stint

supposedly the three-batter rule will be implemented in the (affiliated) minors this season. i don't think it will come up too much, though -- there aren't really minor league LOOGYs or convoluted platoon matches because the games don't mean anything

RIP pitch clock?

yeah :/

seems like overkill

MLB is at Nationals’ camp today workshopping a new communication device for pitchers and catchers. It would allow catchers to type a pitch call (with location) into a watch that is connected to a watch the pitcher is wearing on the mound. An effort to eliminate sign-stealing.

— Jesse Dougherty (@dougherty_jesse) March 18, 2019

ugh

real galaxy brain shit right there

sign stealing is the best

a good way to speed up the game is to have the catcher text the pitcher on his apple watch before every pitch

yeah wtf

a century from now MLB will have "evolved" into 162 home run derbies + a midseason "old school" classic w base running, fielding, etc

classy

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D2wy5U4WkAAuvkb.jpg

the shark has pearly teeth

apparently the mound will *not* be moved back in the atlantic league this season after all

good news for new long island duck jon niese

that did seem the most harebrained

thought this was a joke; apparently it is not

Atlantic League announce 4 new rules:
Pitcher required to step off the rubber in order to attempt a pickoff.
1 foul bunt is permitted with 2 strikes before strikeout is called.
Check swing rule made more batter friendly.
Batters may steal 1st on any pitch not caught by catcher.

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) July 11, 2019