What Are MLB’s New Baseball Rules, And How Are They Affecting The Game

This year in baseball, Robert D. Manfred Jr., and other members that make the baseball rules, have agreed on some new ideas that will change the game forever. Baseball games length have been a problem since 1909, when the the league owner back then realized that games were too long. This has gotten a lot worse over the years, with the last years being 3 hours and 4 minutes. Another problem was that stolen bases have decreased majorly since before in baseball history. In 1982, Ricky Henderson stole 130 bases in one season. Jon Berti and Jorge Mateo (the top 2 stealers last season) only combined for 76 stolen bases last season. Finally, last season, the shift was a popular choice that most teams would use in their games. It made it easier to field ground balls, because you would overplay one side of the infield, based on where the player normally hits the ball. Major League Baseball fixed all of these issues this season. Here is how they did that.

Part 1: Length Of Games

The length of baseball games has been growing steadily over the years, peaking at 3 hours, 4 minutes in the last season. Major League Baseball had been testing the idea of using a pitch clock in the minor leagues, and decided to implement that idea for the major league teams. In the first 4 days of the season, games are averaging 2 hours 38 minutes after the implementation of the pitch clock. A pitcher gets 15 seconds to start his motion to throw a pitch when there are no runners on base. If he fails to do this, it will be an automatic ball for the hitter. With 8 seconds remaining on the clock, the hitter must be in the box looking at the pitcher, or an automatic ball would be called if he isn't. The same rules apply for the pitcher and hitter when there runners on base.

Part 2: Stealing Bases

Ever since Ricky Henderson set the single-season stealing title, nobody has even come close to breaking his record. Now, baseball has made 3 changes to make stealing easier for players. MLB has decided to increase the size of the bases from 15 square inches to 18 square inches. They also made the space between home plate and both of the corner bases 3 inches closer. The bases on the corners are also 4.5 inches closer to each other. The final rule is that pitchers are not allowed to attempt a pickoff 3 times an at bat. If they are unable to get the base runner out on the third pickoff, the runner will be allowed to automatically advance to the next base. In this year, the first 50 games have featured 70 successful steals already, more than double last year's rate.

Part 3: The Shift

Last season, the shift was used by every team, and made it easier for players to field ground balls. This was bad for baseball, because it means less hits, and less exciting plays, because you are crowding your players in one area, based on where a player hits the ball normally. In last season alone, MLB saw a 848.3% increase in teams using the shift, while over 30% of all at bats had a shift by the defense. MLB decided to ban this, hoping to get more hits and have more exciting plays on the infield. The new rule requires there to be 2 players on each side on second base at all times. So far, total player batting average has went up from .243 to .248, but players will get settled into the season soon, and will most likely get that higher.