MLB RULE CHANGES FOR THE 2023 SEASON

There has been chatter for years on how to increase offense and decrease the length of games. We saw MLB reduce mound visits and force pitchers to face a minimum of 3 hitters. This was to avoid the epidemic of the catcher and/or pitching coach walking out to the mound multiple times during an inning. They also tried to increase game speed by eliminating a pitcher coming in for 1 hitter than having another delay due to an additional pitching change. The rule changes going into effect this season are focused on the same path; shorter game times and increased action.

The past 5 seasons have seen a dramatic movement to defensive shifts in the infield. This reduced the league batting average from .269 to .245. Hits between the 1st and 2nd baseman, which historically were hits became outs with 3 infielders positioned appropriately. This also almost eliminated elite infielders from showing off their defensive skills. The shift reduced their need to move and make a play because the range of coverage was smaller.

A few other items they are trying to fix are the constant pickoff attempts, throw overs, stepping off the mound and generally standing on the pitchers mound without making a pitch. Pitchers would normally stare down the batter, then look at the base runner, throw over or fake a throw over, then start the cycle all over. This slows the game down, but also put their own fielders to sleep.

Another very cool addition to the 2023 MLB calendar is the balanced schedule. Inter-league play has been a success, but the players and fans want more. This has resulted in every team playing every other team in the league this season and beyond. Now seeing Mike Trout in Philly, Aaron Judge in Dodger Stadium and the Cubs playing in Fenway will be happening much more frequently.

Now that we laid the ground work on what are forcing these changes, let’s look at the rule changes themselves.

2023 MLB RULE CHANGES:

NO MORE INFIELD SHIFT:

• RULE: AT THE TIME OF THE PITCH, ALL 4 INFIELDERS MUST BE ON THE INFIELD DIRT, WITH 2 INFIELDERS ON EACH SIDE OF 2ND BASE.
• IMPACT ON THE GAME: THIS WILL INCREASE OFFENSE DUE TO MORE HITS. IT WILL ALSO PRODUCE MORE ON-FIELD ACTION AND FIELDERS SHOWING OFF THEIR DEFENSIVE SKILLS.

PITCH CLOCK:

• RULE: THE PITCHER HAS 15 SECONDS TO THROW A PITCH WHEN THE BASES ARE EMPTY AND 20 SECONDS WHEN RUNNERS ARE ON BASE. THE HITTER MUST BE IN THE BATTER’S BOX WITH NO LESS THAN 8 SECONDS LEFT ON THE PITCH CLOCK.
• CONSEQUENCES: IF THE PITCHER “HAS NOT STARTED THE MOTION TO DELIVER A PITCH” WHEN THE CLOCK EXPIRES, THE UMPIRE WILL AWARD A BALL TO THE COUNT. IF A BATTER IS NOT IN THE BOX IN TIME, A STRIKE WILL BE ADDED TO THE COUNT.
• IMPACT: THIS WILL INCREASE THE PACE OF PLAY. THE PITCHERS AND HITTERS WILL BE FORCED INTO ACTION, RESULTING IN MORE ACTION AND I BELIEVE REDUCED STRIKEOUTS BECAUSE BOTH WILL BE IN A QUICKER ATTACK MODE.

REDUCED NUMBER OF PICKOFF ATTEMPTS:

• RULE: PICKOFF ATTEMPTS OR AS THE LEAGUE VERBIAGE STATES, “DISENGAGEMENT” WILL ONLY BE ALLOWED TWICE PER PLATE APPEARANCE. THE RULEBOOK DEFINES “DISENGAGEMENT” AS A PICKOFF ATTEMPT, FAKE PICKOFF ATTEMPT, OR EVEN STEPPING OFF THE PITCHING RUBBER. CATCHERS CAN THROW DOWN TO ANY BASE AS MUCH AS THEY WANT AND THE PITCH CLOCK WON’T START UNTIL THE PITCHER GETS THE BALL BACK FROM AN INFIELDER
• CONSEQUENCES: IF A 3RD “DISENGAGEMENT” OCCURS IN A PLATE APPEARANCE, THE PITCHER WILL BE CHARGED WITH A BALK OR AN OFFENSIVE PLAYER ALREADY ON BASE WILL ADVANCE ONE BASE. THE “DISENGAGEMENT “ RULE DOES RESET IF A RUNNER OR MULTIPLE RUNNERS ADVANCE TO A BASE WITHIN THE SAME PLATE APPEARANCE, AKA A STOLEN BASE, BALK, WILD PITCH, OR PASSED BALL SCENARIO.
• IMPACT: THIS WILL INCREASE STOLEN BASE ATTEMPTS DUE TO REDUCED ATTEMPTS AND TRYING TO GUESS WHEN THE PITCHER WILL THROW OVER. PICKOFF ATTEMPTS ARE BORING AND SLOW THE GAME DOWN, BUT FANS LOVE STOLEN BASE ATTEMPTS AND IT INCREASES ACTION.

INCREASED BASE SIZE:

• RULE: THE BASE SIZE HAS BEEN INCREASED FROM 15 INCHES TO 18 INCHES.
• IMPACT: THIS WILL MAKE A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN CLOSE PLAYS AT EVERY BASE, AS WELL AS GIVING THE BASE RUNNER A SHORTER DISTANCE TO RUN. THE INTENT WAS PLAYER SAFETY BY HAVING A LARGER AREA, BUT THIS WILL INCREASE ACTION AS WELL.

POSITION PLAYERS PITCHING:

• RULE: POSITION PLAYERS PITCHING IN A GAME WILL NOW ONLY BE ALLOWED IF YOUR TEAM IS UP BY 10 RUNS PLUS OR IF YOUR TEAM IS DOWN BY 8 RUNS OR MORE. PREVIOUSLY, THE RULE WAS A 6 RUN DIFFERENCE EITHER WAY.
• IMPACT: BATTING AVERAGES WON’T BE INFLATED DUE TO FACING A UTILITY INFIELDER. THIS WILL ALSO HELP MINIMIZE TEAM EARNED RUN AVERAGES, THAT COULD GET INFLATED DUE TO A POSITION PLAYER THROWING JUNK AND EATING INNINGS.

BALANCED SCHEDULE FOR EVERY TEAM:

• RULE: TEAMS WILL NOW PLAY EVERY TEAM IN THE MAJOR LEAGUES EVERY YEAR. TEAMS WILL NOW PLAY 13 GAMES AGAINST EACH DIVISION OPPONENT, DOWN FROM 18/19 PREVIOUSLY. THIS WILL RESULT IN 52 GAMES AGAINST YOUR DIVISION AND NOW 110 GAMES AGAINST THE OTHER 25 CLUBS.
• IMPACT: EVERY FAN BASE WILL GET TO SEE EVERY TEAM EVERY SEASON. IT WILL ALSO ALLOW FANS BASES TO SEE STAR PLAYERS MUCH MORE FREQUENTLY, FOR EXAMPLE MIKE TROUT AND SHOHEI OTHANI EVERY SEASON AS OPPOSED TO EVERY 4 TO 6 YEARS. IN ADDITION TO THE FANS, IT WONT PUNISH A TEAM LIKE THE ORIOLES OR MARLINS FOR PLAYING IN A VERY DIFFICULT DIVISION. ON THE FLIP SIDE, IT WILL FORCE TEAMS TO PLAY MORE GAMES OUTSIDE OF THEIR MEDIOCRE DIVISION AS OPPOSED TO STACKING WINS AGAINST VERY BAD CLUBS.

I’M A HUGE FAN OF THESE RULE CHANGES AND THE IMPACTS MIGHT ATTRACT MORE FANS AND CONVERT FRINGE FANS INTO CONSISTENT FANS.

SPRING TRAINING IS HERE AND BASEBALL IS BEING PLAYED. WE GET A SPECIAL TREAT IN MARCH WITH THE 5TH INSTALLMENT OF THE WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC. STAY TUNED TO SPINNABLE SPORTS IN THE COMING WEEKS AS I DROP OUR WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC, AMERICAN LEAGUE AND NATIONAL LEAGUE PREVIEWS.