New pitching rules will speed up MLB games
Think you had a bad day on Friday? At least you’re not Kenny Rogers. Unless you are.
Major League Baseball has updated the rulebook for the first time since 1996. The most substantial changes target slow-working, resourceful moundsmen like the Tigers’ 42-year-old lefty.
Starting this season, any pitcher caught scuffing the ball is immediately ejected from the game and subject to a 10-game suspension. There goes part of Rogers’ arsenal.
In addition, slow-working hurlers like Rogers and the Orioles’ Steve Traschel are going to have to speed things up. With no one on base, pitchers now must throw a pitch within 12 seconds of receiving the ball from the catcher.
That’s down from the 20 seconds that used to be allotted. Violations will result in an automatic ball. While on the surface this might seem like a pretty significant tweak, really it won’t affect that many pitchers.
As a rule, pitchers are taught to work quickly. A fast tempo helps keep hitters off balance and a pitcher’s defense on its toes. Really, there are only a few pitchers who work extremely slow, and even they tend to really bring things to a halt only once men reach base. So this rule might not have as much impact as one might think.
The hitters aren’t getting off scot-free. Beginning this season, batters who violate the rule that requires them to keep at least one foot in the batter’s box all through their at-bat will be assessed an automatic strike. No more strolls around the circle behind home plate. This may nominally help to speed up games.
Another major change, and one that was long overdue, is that games that are tied before being postponed by weather will no longer be declared ties. Instead, the game will pick up where it left off. The fact that baseball hadn’t already made this change about 90 years ago is the only puzzling aspect of this rule.
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