Pace of Play changes approved

[Pauly]

This is mildly interesting news straight from FoxSports:

Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association announced Friday four rule changes aimed at improving pace of play. News of the changes were first reported by FOX Sports' Jon Morosi and Ken Rosenthal.

● Managers must make instant replay challenges from the dugout, rather than the field. This should eliminate the on-field delays that occurred in 2014 while managers chatted with umpires while waiting for coaches or video coordinators to recommend whether a play should be challenged.
● Hitters must keep one foot in the batter’s box between pitches, unless an established exception occurs. It’s not clear how many exceptions will exist, but during a trial run in the 2014 Arizona Fall League, those conditions included foul balls, foul tips, time being granted by the umpire, and wild pitches.
● Play will resume promptly once television broadcasts return from commercial breaks.
● Timed pitching changes.

Penalties for all violations will start in May and will include minimal fines, not balls, strikes. The idea is to change players' habits, not penalize them. As with replay, rules will be adjusted as needed during the course of the season.
"Players are willing to consider certain things relating to improving the game," MLBPA executive director Tony Clark said. "Players are always interested in doing that. But they are always sensitive to making adjustments that will adversely affect the game. They love it, respect it too much to try and reinvent the wheel in such a way that will damage the game."

[TranaGreg]

Penalties for all violations will start in May and will include minimal fines, not balls, strikes.

well at least that's something.

Still, as a hitter I think I'd fall into a pattern of requesting time on every pitch, unless the umps get grumpy about it.

[bryanbutler]

i think the effect of the "one foot in the batter's box" remains to be seen. if they have one foot in, does that mean the pitcher can pitch? or do they have to wait until both feet are in?

at least they're trying though. i don't think we need 2 hour games, but getting significantly above 3 hours is a bit much, IMHO...

[Fresno Bob]

You know what is better than a three hour baseball game......a four hour one!

[madducks]

● Timed pitching changes.

The increased number of pitching changes is the biggest reason why the games are getting longer. The additional trips to the mound (which should also be timed) by the manager/pitching coach and the additional warmup pitches add a lot of time to the game. I think that the number of warmup pitches should be reduced from 8 to 5 between each half inning. And relief pitchers that warmed up in the bullpen should only get 3 warmup pitches on the field to acclimate themselves to the field mound. Reducing warmup pitches by 51-66 pitches per game could trim 10-12 minutes off the game time.

[Lucky]

How much would they save if television were forced to work around breaks in the game, instead of the other way around? I know that commercials, etc. come during during natural breaks, but the action is often ready to resume before the commercials are over.

[DMT]

How much would they save if television were forced to work around breaks in the game, instead of the other way around? I know that commercials, etc. come during during natural breaks, but the action is often ready to resume before the commercials are over.

Get the commie!