Fans and announcers alike are adjusting to significant rule changes in effect this season for Major League Baseball.
John Bauer, Fred Friedman and Kyle Erickson — the contributors behind the Sports Page segment on the Friday KAXE Morning Show — discussed how they felt about those changes and more during the March 31 show.
The update casual fans are most likely to notice is the addition of a pitch clock, intended to quicken the pace of play. Under the new rule, pitchers have 15 seconds to throw a pitch when bases are empty, or 20 seconds when a runner occupies a base. Batters are also impacted by this rule, now required to be in the batter's box with eight seconds on the clock.
If the pitcher hasn't started the motion of the pitch before the clock expires, it counts as a ball. If a batter delays, it's a strike.
The power of those consequences was already demonstrated during a preseason game between the Atlanta Braves and Boston Red Sox. The game ended in a tie when a batter — who thought he'd earned a walk — failed to return to the batter's box on time, leading the umpire to call a third strike.
Other changes include larger bases meant to prevent injury on stolen base attempts, the elimination of the infield shift meant to spur more production from the plate, and limits on disengagements from the mound for pitchers, including pickoff fakes or attempts. The latter move, the MLB said, is both a time-saving measure and meant to goad more action in the base paths.