Potential MLB Rule changes

[fuhrdog]

3 batter minimum will work just like the 10 day DL, it will be abused repeatedly. Face 1 hitter and the phantom injury will appear.

[harmon]

3 batter minimum will work just like the 10 day DL, it will be abused repeatedly. Face 1 hitter and the phantom injury will appear.

Penalty would be an IL stint.

[Judge Jude]

3 batter minimum will work just like the 10 day DL, it will be abused repeatedly. Face 1 hitter and the phantom injury will appear.

not sure I like the idea, but that issue already is addressed by the proposed rule.

[Kevin Seitzer]

3 batter minimum will work just like the 10 day DL, it will be abused repeatedly. Face 1 hitter and the phantom injury will appear.

Four percent of relief appearances in 2018 faced less than three batters and ended before the inning was complete.

[harmon]

Four percent of relief appearances in 2018 faced less than three batters and ended before the inning was complete.

Not doubting this is true, but I'm quite surprised at this. I would have guessed this figure to be higher.

I imagine the 7th and 8th innings would show a higher %.

[cavebird]

And how about really shaking things up in extra innings and making sure the fans and players never have to endure another 18 inning marathon again. Simply require teams to use 8 fielders in the 10th inning, 7 fielders in the 11th inning, etc. You could cap it at 4 fielders (P, C, + 2 more) if it ever got to that point. And the managers can really earn their money there by deciding where to place less than 9 defenders. That would actually be fun to watch and the fans who stick around to watch the entire game will get rewarded with the chance to see something really unique. Tradition and bullpen ratios be damned.

18-inning games are awesome! Best game I ever went to lasted 19 innings.

[Kevin Seitzer]

Not doubting this is true, but I'm quite surprised at this. I would have guessed this figure to be higher.

I imagine the 7th and 8th innings would show a higher %.

For the 7th and 8th innings, it's 5% of the relievers that came in for that inning and faced less than three batters and were removed before the end of an inning (which would include, for example, a pitcher who faced the last batter of the 7th and the first batter of the eighth).

[Kevin Seitzer]

Of course, mid-inning pitching changes happen way more often than that, but it's usually taking out a pitcher who has faced three or more batters. Roughly a quarter of pitching changes occur during the inning and 3/4 between innings.

[mgwiz22]

Part of the problem is that many of these multi pitcher innings seemed to have been on National television. There were too many endless Red Sox vs. Yankee games .

[Kevin Seitzer]

There are a lot of multi-pitcher innings. But this proposed rule change would affect only a small portion of them.

E.g.
Starting pitcher pitches 6 innings.
Relief pitcher comes in to pitch the 7th, finishes the 7th, faces one batter in the 8th, who reaches, and the pitcher comes out.
New reliever comes in and gets two outs and allows a runner to reach.
New reliever comes in and gets out of the 8th inning with an out after allowing a runner to reach, stays in to face the first batter in the 9th, who reaches, and the pitcher comes out.
New reliever comes in and gets two outs and allows a runner to reach.
New reliever comes in and gets out of the 9th inning.

That's both the 8th and 9th inning with three different pitchers and two mid-inning pitching changes in each inning, and yet completely allowed under the new rule.

[Moonlight J]

What if Ohtani or McKay are in the lineup and want to come in and face a batter? Can the manager let them lead off the inning with the reliever in the opposite field and then bring in the reliever after the PA?

[cavebird]

What if Ohtani or McKay are in the lineup and want to come in and face a batter? Can the manager let them lead off the inning with the reliever in the opposite field and then bring in the reliever after the PA?

I imagine that it would depend on how they word the rule. On the other hand, it all seems academic now because MLB basically said today that they will not consider the players' suggestions during the current CBA, which means the players won't sign off on anything and the only thing that could be implemented is the pitch clock, and if MLB does that unilaterally, that just seems like MLB is begging for a strike after the CBA expires.

[madducks]

The Atlantic League will feature a radar system dubbed TrackMan to help home-plate umpires call balls and strikes during the 2019 season as part of an agreement with Major League Baseball.
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/...aign=editorial

Also being tested in 2019:
An infield shift ban
A three-batter minimum for pitchers
Mound visits being eliminated aside from pitching changes and injuries
Increasing the size of the bases by three inches
Reducing the time between innings by 30 seconds

The second half of the season will see the distance from the pitching rubber to the plate increased by two feet to 62'6".

[madducks]

I like all of these except moving the pitching rubber back 2 feet.

I'm thinking that the increased base size is the "Machado Rule" designed to create more separation between the infielder's foot on the edge of the bag and the base runner.

No way does the increased pitching distance stick. That's an invitation to more pitcher injuries. Hopefully, MLB will come to their senses and scrap that one before it even gets tested.

[cavebird]

I like all of these except moving the pitching rubber back 2 feet.

I'm thinking that the increased base size is the "Machado Rule" designed to create more separation between the infielder's foot on the edge of the bag and the base runner.

No way does the increased pitching distance stick. That's an invitation to more pitcher injuries. Hopefully, MLB will come to their senses and scrap that one before it even gets tested.

If the idea is quicker games, I have no idea what the point of increased pitching distance is. It is to help batters, who are doing just fine. It is almost like MLB wants even more offense, but also quicker games and cannot fathom that the two ideas are at odds.