MLB 2023 rule changes...PeeWee league?
 

MLB goes PeeWee League.

Regulating the shift, time clock for pitchers, and larger bases.

Maybe I'm just an old man who yells at clouds........

I know it's difficult, but if you are a professional ball player you should be able to hit to the opposite field. When is the last time you saw a shift on a right handed batter?

Overall, poor fundamentals at the plate, the lack of just making contact instead just swinging for the fence, has lead to high strikeout rates and poor averages.

With pitchers mostly going 5 innings and the pen taking over, the game is naturally longer. Likely three more arms will be used and it takes time for these guys to warm up, coaches going back and forth to the mound....and so forth.

If starters went 7 innings or 8, one arm two max is used. The game speeds up.

However, pitchers are not trained for those innings anymore.

Bigger bases? Don't even get me going.

I'm heading outside now to yell at people to keep off my lawn.

I do not mind change and trying to improve the game and keep it interesting to the young who have more options

1. With regards to the larger bases for safety concerns I am ok with it. a Few inches to keep the players safe and happy.
2. The pitch clock. I like it. if you pay attention to the pitching they walk around and on the mound off etc. To much time.. I am happy with the clock..:)
3. Banning the shift. DO NOT LIKE IT. that takes strategy and actually affects the game play. To me if you want to beat the shift teach the players to hit it wear it aint.

I probably see shifts on right handed batters every game I watch. It's not that uncommon to only see the first baseman on the right side of the infield for a righty if no one is on base. You may not see an infielder in short left field (like happens with a lefty and short right field), but there are definitely 3 infielders to the left of second base.

I like all the rule changes. Be even better if they let the K zone call balls and strikes. Would eliminate so much unfairness and opinion. Soto gets so many call bc of his rep that K zone says are strikes it’s insane. More insane is him being compared to Ted Williams when he is batting .240. MLB wants him to be the next star so badly.
What is penalty for not pitching before the clock expires?

Why not just put a pitching machine out there and use the Kzone. Would save pitchers arms, hell we wouldn't even need pitchers anymore.

1) I don’t agree with banning the shift. That’s strategy. Why take it away?

2) Bigger bases is weird but whatever. I’d be more for tacking on an equal sized base in the out of bounds at first to prevent Manny Machado type nonsense of stepping on fielders feet.

3) I don’t agree with the time clock. I don’t get the obsession with speeding up games. Football games take over four hours and there is about 15 minutes of action yet nobody complains.

I’ve watched more baseball this year than any other year and I completely agree with banning the shift. It’s a cancer. I would love to say “hit ‘em where they ain’t “, but the money these guys make for hitting bombs makes that a moot point.

I don’t really care about the clock rule. Seems fine. Same with the base size.

The bigger bases reduce injuries by 13% so I'm fine with that.

The pitch clock is a great idea. Pitchers take too long and batters step out after every single pitch to adjust their gloves or scratch their balls or whatever is ridiculous. Players will adapt.

I'm against the shift rule. Teams should be able to play whatever defense they choose.

An article for those that haven't read about them.
https://torontosun.com/sports/baseba...it-arent-happy

I have talked to some people and I have changed my mind. I do not like the pitching clock. At first I thought no big deal and it can only help.

Then after talking to people i do not like it.

1. Does not give the pitcher potentially enough time to go thru the pitch selection(if A pitcher has large # of good pitches) may not even get to it and now the pitcher is forced to throw something they either do not or one that the catcher might not be ready for(since not communicated)
2. This could cause safety issues (if catcher does not know what is coming) or it can cause the catcher not being set right and not prepared and the ball getting buy or just poor play
3. IF the pitcher is a rookie, new to the team etc, does not allow time for getting on same page
4. Prevent discussion for situation baseball ie runners on base, potential to throw runner out at bases etc

Respectfully, how do you get to talking about a pitching machine when I mention the k zone? Using the technology available would instantly reduce alot of controversy and unfairness. It's like instant replay. Hard to understand how anyone would be opposed. I'd sure like it in my softball league LOL!

I go to minor league games regularly, and they've been using the pitch clock for years now. Seems to not affect the pitchers at all on that level, and the pitch is usually off, long before the pitch clock winds down.

Pitchers actually seem to get in more of a rhythm, knowing what's expected of them. If anything, the batters don't seem to have as much time as they want to dig in sometimes.

Bottom line though, these are all just band-aids. As long as baseball is on commercial television, all these long breaks in between action will continue.

The other thing about minor league games. They rarely drag on, anywhere near as long as their MLB counterparts. Sometimes I wish they'd last longer, so I'd have time to sneak one more beer in before the 7th inning stretch. :D

Yeah, I'm all for saving as many umpires eyes as possible. ;) Also would be incredible to see what Aaron Judge would do over the course of a season, knowing he had a normal sized strike zone for once.

I know this means, we might not ever see the likes of Greg Maddux or Tom Glavine again, but while I love pitchers duels, I never much loved seeing how much a magician like Maddux could move a strike zone on an umpire, throughout the course of a game. I'd rather see Maddux working the batter, rather then working the umpire. Maybe be would have been just as good, I don't know.

I can't say how stupid I think all these changes are, because you guys will tell me how it's me that's stupid. Know this: all of it comes down, in the end, as with everything else, to $$$. There is no way the $$$ for players salaries is ever coming back down to rational levels. I personally believe that is why 20-somethings are bored with baseball...why games last 3.5 hours as opposed to 2 to 2.5. Thank God I have so many radio and TV broadcasts, from the days of flannel uniforms, no commercials, or very few, and most of them right from the press box. No crawlers, or insane commentary. Right or wrong, the umpire is the last word. No designated hitters. No no-pitch intentional walks. No starting the 10th inning with a man on second. None of that. No stepping out of the batter's box after every pitch. Not even any batting helmets. None of it. You can have what is called baseball today, if it's your cup of tea. I will live very comfortably in the past, thank you very much.

I'm glad the shift is gone. I hated it. Get some people who can really play the infield. I also hate this bullshit that every time the ball hits the ground at home plate they throw it out for a new one. It's ok though if it bounces off the wall in the outfield and hits the warning track. What a bunch of bullshit. As for bigger bases, WHY? I like the time clock and there should be one to get the batters ass in the box too.

It used to be pitchers took care of that sort of thing.

Once players started taking a lesson from soccer, they can't. :(

Terry Francona posted his regrets for the ban on shifts...and, as much as I dislike them...the disconnect is that hitters have not, and will never, adjust to those shifts and hit the ball the other way.

Those days are gone bye-bye.


Supposedly, the idea behind these changes is to speed up the game and thereby hoping to add excitement.

Instead, batting averages and on-base percentages will continue to drop at a faster and faster rate.


The NEW Curse of the Bambino:

'Damn the Triples, full PULL ahead!


Why not make second base out of whoopie-cushions? Great for head-first slides.



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