Baseball Needed Change And This Year It’s Happening

The Yankees’ full squad is supposed to be all checked in to the spring training facility in Tampa and ready to hit the fields today, and then Saturday, a whole new world begins for them and the rest of MLB.

That’s when spring training games begin and the new rules featuring the pitch clock, larger bases, reduced pickoff attempts, and shift bans will be enforced, and the players will have to start to adapt to their new reality, and quickly. Opening Day is March 30.

Of course, the big one for the players is the pitch clock because it is going to force them to play the game the way they probably haven’t played it since high school, maybe even Little League.

This is a generation of players that has helped kill the pace of baseball with all their silly routines and mental gymnastics between every pitch. They all have their sports psychologists pounding into them the importance of visualization, relaxation, proper breathing techniques, focusing on the moment, and all this other bullshit to make sure they are mentally prepared to either throw the ball or swing the bat. That on top of all the advanced metric data floating around in their brains that they need to process.

And while they’re achieving blissful zen, we, the fans, have been left sitting there waiting for the action to resume, sometimes 30 seconds or more between pitches. We’re all sick of it, and finally, MLB management recognized how ridiculous things have gotten and commissioner Rob Manfred - love him or hate him, and most hate him - ramrodded through these pace of play initiatives and I’m damn glad he did.

The last season in which the average time of a game was less than two hours, 40 minutes was in 1984, and that was the longest in the history of the sport to that point, a century into baseball’s existence. Since then, the game lengths have creeped longer and longer until they reached the absurdity of 2021 when it took, on average, three hours and 11 minutes to play a game.

Last year, the time dropped to 3:06, due largely to the new PitchCom system that most teams used to call pitches. PitchCom was a great first step, and now the pitch clock should really make a difference.

When the bases are empty, pitchers will have 15 seconds to start their delivery and 20 seconds when there are men on base. If they don’t do so, they will be charged a ball. If the pitch isn’t put in play, once the pitcher gets the ball back from the catcher, the clock starts again.

There will be plenty of pitchers who are going to struggle with this because last year, according to Statcast, 110 of them averaged at least 20 seconds between pitches with the bases empty including Jonathan Loaisiga (slowest in MLB at 25.8 seconds), Clay Holmes (21.8), and Michael King (21.5).

Can you imagine Loaisiga needing to shave 10 seconds off his routine? He’s the extreme, but essentially the entire Yankees staff will have to get quicker because the only Yankee pitcher who averaged 15 seconds between pitches with the bases empty was Nestor Cortes, right at 15.0.

Concurrently, batters must be in the box ready to hit with at least eight seconds left on the clock; if they aren’t, they get charged a strike. So all that strolling around after a pitch, adjusting the cup, fixing the elbow guard, adjusting the batting glove, tapping dirt out of the spikes, taking another practice swing or two? They won’t have time for all that.

I fully expect the whining and bitching will be legendary when there are violations once the games start to count, at least until these guys get the rhythm down, and the ones who will be screaming loudest are the established, big-name players. That’s because the pitch clock has been used for several years in the minors, so many of the young players have already been subjected to this quickened pace of play. Believe me, I attend a bunch of Rochester Red Wings games and the pitch clock is now an afterthought because the minor leaguers are used to it.

In the minors last year when the new pickoff rules were used in addition to the already established pitch clock, games were shortened on average by about 25 minutes from their previous level before the pitch clock was born. Down there, the clock was set at 14 seconds with the bases empty, 19 seconds with men on, but the additional second MLB players will get won’t amount to much.

By the end of the minor league season, the average number of automatic ball or strike violations was just 0.41 per game, down from 1.73 in the first couple weeks which, when you think about it, isn’t all that much either. And what that proves is the minor league players adapted well at the beginning, and very well by season’s end, so I’m sure MLB players can do it. Hey, they don’t have a choice.

Additionally, mound visits are now supposed to last only 30 seconds, starting from the time the manager or pitching coach leaves the dugout, or a position player goes to talk to the pitcher, though there doesn’t seem to be a penalty if they last longer. And a batters’ walk-up music cannot exceed 10 seconds, so for most of us old guys here, that’s a good thing.

I doubt the MLB game times will drop an average of 25 minutes because MLB managers change pitchers more often during the course of games, often within innings, and that drains additional time. In the minors, pitching changes are usually done after an inning. In 2022, MLB teams averaged 4.30 pitchers used per game. The last year the average number of pitchers used per game was less than three was in 1989.

If MLB can get the game times down to around 2:50 this year, I think that would be pretty impressive progress, and we can hope for better. The last time it was at that level was 2010.

This is going to be a massive burden on the umpires to enforce the timing rules, and I sure wouldn’t want to be the guy who calls a timing violation on the pitcher that forces in the game-winning run from third base in the bottom of the ninth inning, or strikes a batter out in the same situation.

Here’s a look at how the other new or tweaked rules will look:

➤ No more shifts: I wasn’t quite as interested in banning shifts as I was the pitch clock, but I’m fine with it because theoretically, it should result in a few more hits, especially to the right side.

Teams will have to have two infielders on each side of second base, and they can’t play any deeper than the dirt cutout, meaning no more four-outfielder defensive alignments, no more second basemen lined up in short right field and the shortstop in the second base position against lefty pull hitters, and vice-versa for righty pull hitters.

However, players will be able to move once the pitch is delivered, so against those same lefty pull hitters like Anthony Rizzo, for instance, you may see the second baseman backtrack quickly and the shortstop hustle over to the second base side, which is why I don’t think the shift ban will be all that impactful.

Plus, the middle infielders can still play as close to the second base bag as possible without crossing over, literally within inches of the bag, so most of those shots through the pitcher are still going to get handled. But at least there’s a better chance for hits to left and right field because there won’t be three infielders lined up.

Last season, the MLB cumulative batting average was a pathetic .243, the lowest since 1968, the aptly-named Year of the Pitcher when it was .237 and prompted the drastic change of lowering the mound height from 15 to 10 inches starting in 1969. After that happened, the batting average jumped all the way up to .248 in 1969 and by 1979 it was .265. The banning of shifts won’t come close to increasing batting average the way lowering the mound did.

➤ Limited pickoffs: There’s a new term pitchers need to learn: “Disengagement from the rubber.” Meaning any pickoff throws to a base; stepping off the rubber on a fake pickoff; stepping off the rubber to reset if there’s a mixup on the pitch call or to just take a deep breath; or someone in the field, usually the catcher, asking for a timeout.

Any combination of these “disengagements” cannot surpass two per plate appearance. A third will result in a balk and the runner or runners will advance a base. If the runner or runners advance during a plate appearance - say by balk, stolen base, wild pitch or passed ball - the pitcher then gets two new disengagements.

As for the batter, he will get only one opportunity to disengage from the batters box per plate appearance, meaning calling time out for whatever reason. If he asks for a second, he gets charged a strike.

This not only is a time-saving rule - no more pitchers throwing over to first base five straight times, no more batters repeatedly calling timeout - but it is also in place to help spur more base stealing. If a pitcher disengages twice and the runner or runners have not been picked off or advanced, now the wheels start turning. That’s because if the pitcher disengages for a third time and tries to pick a runner off, if the runner is not tagged out, he and anyone else on base gets to advance.

It’s going to be interesting to see what happens after a pitcher disengages twice. Will the baserunner take a bigger lead because he knows the pitcher is at risk trying to pick him off? With bigger leads, we should see an increase in stolen base attempts and that’s good for the game. On the flip side, if the pitcher sees the runner taking a bigger lead, will he gamble and still try to pick him off because if he has a good move he has a better chance to nail him?

I can say right now, pitchers are going to really hate this because they have become so accustomed to stepping off the rubber for any number reasons that you know they’re going to do this inadvertently and it’s going to cost them a balk. This rule may actually be harder for them to comply with than throwing the ball inside 15 or 20 seconds.

➤ Bigger bases: They will increase from 15 to 18 inches, and if you think those three inches won’t mean much on plays on the basepaths - stolen bases, force outs, tag plays, completing double plays - think again. The men who conceived baseball’s rules and dimensions in the 19th century knew what they were doing when they set the bases 90 feet apart.

Think of all the bang-bang plays there are in every game where a runner is out or safe by inches. Well, now there’s a three-inch size difference in the bases, so that should mean an increase in the number of baserunners in each game.

Also, there’s a safety component to the bigger bases because with a bigger target for runners to hit, the fielders - especially first baseman - shouldn’t be getting spiked or run into quite as often.

➤ Extra-inning runner: MLB announced last week that it is permanently installing the rule where a runner will start at second base in extra innings of regular-season games. This had been a year-to-year rule since the COVID season of 2020. I know I’m in the minority on this, but I’m glad the “Manfred Man” - as it is so affectionately called - is staying.

Yes, it seems a little hokey, but with these games already taking forever to play, no one wants to see them drag on in extra innings, not when there’s 162 games to play. Enough is enough.

Now to be clear, starting the runner on second doesn’t guarantee scoring, and it doesn’t guarantee that games won’t drag on. But last year, 216 games went into extra innings and only 11 lasted 13 or longer. In 2019, the last season before this rule, there were 208 extra-inning games and 37 went 13 or more, eight that went 15 or more.

Also, while the rule saves time, not to mention the arms of some of the relievers, it also spurs action. As soon as a half inning starts, the batting team has a scoring opportunity, so what’s wrong with that? I love the strategy that ensues. On defense, do you intentionally walk the batter to set up a double play? On offense, do you bunt the runner to third? If both teams play straight up, then very often all it takes is a single to plate a run. To me, seeing runs scored is sure better than watching power reliever after power reliever come in to start every inning and mow guys down. I love the stakes being bigger when a runner starts at second.

If you’re wondering, the Yankees were 5-2 in extra innings in 2020, and they were 10-8 in both 2021 and 2022.

➤ Position player pitching: Thankfully, this recently formed zit on the complexion of the game is being squeezed. In the last few years teams have greatly increased the instances when they use a sacrificial lamb - a position player - to eat innings late in blowouts. And of course, what it did was turn games into a farce with these dudes lobbing up softball speed pitches.

Previously, you could only use a position player on the mound when you were up or down by six or more runs, or if a game went to extra innings, or if a team simply ran out of available pitchers. Now, you can’t use a position player until you’re trailing by eight or more runs at any point, or you’re leading by 10 or more runs in the ninth inning. The extra innings provision remains in place. And that should result in much less nonsense.

In 2017, there were 32 instances of position players pitching in a game, and there were 78 pitches clocked at 60 miles per hour or less, with almost all of those thrown by position players. Last season there were 132 position players called on to pitch, and there were 856 pitches 60 mph or less. I’m all for more offense, but this isn’t the way to do it. Good change.

➤ New schedule: Another big alteration that I’m in favor of is the balanced schedule. Every team will play each other, and I think that’s great for baseball because now, as Yankees fans, we’ll get to watch all of the stars in the National League, not just the Mets and whatever NL division the Yankees were scheduled to play in a given season.

It also means a reduction from 19 to 13 games against division opponents, and that’s definitely a good thing for the Yankees since the AL East is the most competitive division in the sport. Twenty-four less games combined against the Rays, Jays, Red Sox and Orioles is fine by me.

The new schedule format includes 52 divisional games (previously 76), 64 other intraleague games (previously 66), and 46 interleague games (previously 20). Each team will play a four-game home-and-home series against their geographic interleague rival (Yankees vs. Mets) plus one three-game series against the other 14 teams in the other league. The sites of those games will rotate by year so this season the Yankees will play at the Dodgers, and in 2024 the Dodgers will come to New York.

➤ Well, it didn’t take long for the injuries to start for the Yankees. Seriously, is there a more fragile team in all of professional sports than the Yankees?

The big news, of course, is that Frankie Montas will miss most, if not all, of the 2023 season because he needs shoulder surgery. And thus, this becomes one of the worst trades Brian Cashman has ever made. Laughable, really, in that the Yankees, one would hope, knew there was a problem in the shoulder yet still sent four players to Oakland including two promising pitchers, J.P. Sears and Ken Waldichuk. Oh, the Yankees also received Lou Trivino. Sorry, but that doesn’t save the deal.

Some might ask why the decision to get surgery took until now because had he done it right after last season, chances are he could have been back around the All-Star break. Aaron Boone explained that the team believed Montas would be able to work out the problems and get his shoulder back in shape in the offseason, but when it became obvious that he wasn’t improving, surgery became the best option.

Cashman is the face of this failure. But behind the scenes, the Yankees medical staff needs to be called to the carpet. One thing Cashman isn’t is a doctor, so he’s relying on the news he gets from the medical people, and for whatever reason, they missed the severity of Montas’ injury and erroneously gave Cashman the thumbs up to proceed. Just an awful job by everyone who had a hand in this.

Do I think losing Montas is really a big deal? Not really. I mean he went from being the alleged No. 2 starter behind Gerrit Cole at the time of the trade to being the No. 5 starter in 2023. Now, Domingo German and Clarke Schmidt - both of whom profile as No. 4 or No. 5 starters - will battle for that job, unless Cashman makes a spring trade to acquire someone else. Oh, guess who else would have been in that mix? Both Sears and Waldichuk.

In the end, an absolute disaster of a trade. The good news: Montas will be a free agent in 2024, so he’ll be gone. Thanks for nothing big fella.

➤ Naturally, this being the Yankees, that wasn’t the only bad news that came down even before pitchers and catchers reported last week as Cortes suffered a low Grade 2 hamstring strain. So he’s not pitching in the World Baseball Classic, and there’s probably a good chance he won’t be ready for the start of the season.

“I think the ultimate goal here is to get ready for number 28,” Cortes told reporters, referring to chasing the franchise’s 28th World Series title. “I think it’s kind of a letdown for the country, but I think the biggest goal right here is to get healthy and be ready for the start of the season.”

Speaking of the WBC, last week I forgot to include Loaisiga pitching for Nicaragua, so with Cortes now out, the Yankee participation remains at three - Kyle Higashioka for Team USA and Gleyber Torres for Venezuela.