MLB Unveils New Equipment & Pace of Play Rules to be Tested in Atlantic League

[garnetpalmetto]

MLB and the Atlantic League (an 8-team non-affiliated minor league) previously announced that they'll be using the Atlantic League as a lab space to test several rule changes in the upcoming year. Those rules have been announced and some are definitely...interesting.

• The home plate umpire will be assisted in calling balls and strikes by TrackMan, a radar tracking system;
• No mound visits will be permitted by players or coaches other than for pitching changes or medical issues;
• Pitchers will be required to face at least three batters or reach the end of an inning before they exit the game unless the pitcher becomes injured;
  
• The bags at each base will be increased from 15 inches square to 18 inches square;
• Two infielders must be on each side of second base when the pitch is released. If not, the ball will be dead and the umpire will call a ball;
  
• Time between innings and pitching changes will be reduced from 2:05 to 1:45; and
  
• In the second half of the season, the distance from the rubber to home plate will be extended by 24 inches (no change to the height or shape of the pitcher's mound).

Additionally, MLB plans on monitoring the effects of these changes for potential tweaking or for more additions in the second half of the season. Personally I'm glad they're doing experiments this radical in a non-affiliated league but there are several of these I hope to never see the light of day in MiLB or MLB. Interesting that they're trying to put an end to the shift, LOOGYs, and ROOGYs. I can't imagine that the reduction in time between innings will go over well with sponsors, though.

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[rangerssharks414]

Wtf

I haven't been to a Ducks game in years. It looks like that won't change.

 

[garnetpalmetto]

Wtf

I haven't been to a Ducks game in years. It looks like that won't change.

An Atlantic League team just moved to High Point, NC - I think I might be tempted to go check it out, especially in the last half of the season to see how these changes look in practice.

 

[kingsholygrail]

If the goal is to end games faster, leaving a pitcher in that is out of gas may actually prolong the game quite a while if he can't get anyone out. I'd like to hear the reasoning for extending the rubber in the second half of the season. Is it a weather thing?

 

[garnetpalmetto]

If the goal is to end games faster, leaving a pitcher in that is out of gas may actually prolong the game quite a while if he can't get anyone out. I'd like to hear the reasoning for extending the rubber in the second half of the season. Is it a weather thing?

I doubt it's weather related as the Atlantic League is one of the most geographically diverse leagues there is - while there's only 8 teams there's a fairly wide spread of climates:

Connecticut (New Britain)
Maryland (Waldorf)
New Jersey (Bridgewater)
New York (Central Islip)
North Carolina (High Point)
Pennsylvania (Lancaster & York)
Texas (Sugar Land)

The only thing I can figure is to see how it would affect a batter to be able to get a 2' jump on tracking the ball and, in theory, increasing his chances of getting a hit.

 

[Neutrinos]

Even as a child, I never understood why managers needed to waddle out to the mound to make a pitching change

There's absolutely no reason for it

You never see a hockey coach walk out to the crease to make a goalie change

 

[Neutrinos]

The 3 batter minimum is just silly

It'll be so easy to fake an injury in order to get pulled, what's the point?

 

[Belieber]

Two infielders on each side of second base will happen and it will be great for the sport.

 

[kingsholygrail]

Even as a child, I never understood why managers needed to waddle out to the mound to make a pitching change

There's absolutely no reason for it

You never see a hockey coach walk out to the crease to make a goalie change

Well, it's always been more than just the pitching change. Often they take the time to discuss other strategies and even to slow the game down if the batters have momentum. While I do get annoyed sometimes with the amount of mound visits, I'd hate to cut it out as a part of the game.

 

[Unholy Diver]

If these things ever make it to the point of being actual rules for MLB I might have to throw in the towel on baseball, yeah the games can be a little bit long but the game has worked fine for 125+ years, just let it be.

 

[Neutrinos]

If these things ever make it to the point of being actual rules for MLB I might have to throw in the towel on baseball, yeah the games can be a little bit long but the game has worked fine for 125+ years, just let it be.

We shouldn't stick with a certain way of doing something just because that's how it was done 100 years ago

 

[Unholy Diver]

We shouldn't stick with a certain way of doing something just because that's how it was done 100 years ago

Yeah if it is not broken you should stick with it, some of these proposals will change the fabric of the game.

 

[hotcabbagesoup]

Two infielders on each side of second base will happen and it will be great for the sport.

I hate that one the most. You're taking away the shift and strategy from the game.

 

[rangerssharks414]

I hate that one the most. You're taking away the shift and strategy from the game.

What's next? Man-to-man defense only for the NFL and NBA?

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

I hate that one the most. You're taking away the shift and strategy from the game.

no, your just reining it in. no different than the NHL having offsides or the trapezoid rule

 

[Winger98]

The only thing I can figure is to see how it would affect a batter to be able to get a 2' jump on tracking the ball and, in theory, increasing his chances of getting a hit.

I wonder if they're looking for a middle ground where hitters won't gain a big advantage but pitchers will have a split second more to react to balls hit back at them.

I hate that one the most. You're taking away the shift and strategy from the game.

and isn't there evidence teams are adjusting to the shift and finding ways of beating it or cutting into its effectiveness? I thought I read an article about it a couple of months back.

 

[BiolaRunner]

If the goal is to end games faster, leaving a pitcher in that is out of gas may actually prolong the game quite a while if he can't get anyone out. I'd like to hear the reasoning for extending the rubber in the second half of the season. Is it a weather thing?

The rule stating that a pitcher needs to face 3 batters or finish an inning is to prevent the multiple pitching changes when they bring in a pitcher for a lefty vs lefty match up and change him after 1 batter