Washington Nationals pitcher Trevor Williams with the new shot clock in the background.Lynne Sladky (AP)
The United States wants to revolutionize baseball, one of its most popular sports. The league, which is MLB for its English acronym, returns with a new season this Thursday. Among the favorites to be crowned will be current champion Houston Astros with José Altuve and Jeremy Peña, who will only feature in his second year while already wearing a ring. Also included are the San Diego Padres, who have never won the World Series and are hoping to do so with the help of Dominican star Juan Soto. The Atlanta Braves, Mets, and New York Yankees appear in pools alongside the Los Angeles Dodgers, awaiting a franchise to ring the bell.
Japan has conquered the top of world baseball a few days ago. The World Classic had Shoei Ohtani as a great figure, a phenomenon that defeated the United States in the final. The Americans have won just one of the five world championships held since 2006, underscoring the fierce competition in a sport that began to go international towards the end of the 19th century. Chasing Ohtani, who now plays for the Los Angeles Angels, will be one of the things to watch in the 2023 season. The Japanese was the 11th-best hitter and sixth-best pitcher in MLB last year. It is the first since 1893 to appear in the top fifteen in both categories. His days on the Los Angeles second-team are numbered and he’s finding it difficult to extend past the summer.
What is special about the current season are the new rules that are being implemented by the league authorities. MLB has been in a slump since 2012, with stadium attendance down 14% since then. In 2022, that fell 5.7% compared to 2019, the last season played entirely before the pandemic, according to Forbes. Last year, 67.5 million fans visited the diamond, almost a million fewer than three years ago. It’s the worst number since 1997. The World Series, the final, doesn’t do much better on TV. The 2022 game was watched by 11.7 million people, the second-worst number in fifty years of television ratings (the lowest was the 2020 final between the Dodgers and Rays at 9.7 million).
MLB officials have put new rules on the table to bring some vibrancy to the first pro sport in the US Sports fans have complained about the length of the games in various polls. “Two obvious themes have emerged from our research. First, fans want a fresher pace of play. They want shorter games with better rhythm. If you ask them how long a baseball game should be, the immediate answer is two hours and 30 minutes,” MLB vice president Morgan Sword said this week.
White Sox second baseman Moises Castillo second before being hit by the Cubs Ross D. Franklin (AP)
Here’s a summary of the adjustments MLB will be testing in the 2023 season:
15 seconds to revolutionize baseball
In a bid to reduce the average time spent in a game, which often exceeds three hours, MLB officials dealt with the pitchers first. Pitchers dictate the cadence of the game depending on the condition of their arms. Those days are over. Starting this Thursday, players have 15 seconds from the moment they receive the ball from the catcher to begin their movement on the mound. When there are men on the base, the clock has 20 seconds. If the pitcher breaks the rule, the account automatically adds a ball. As in the minor leagues, hitters have 30 seconds to reach the batter’s box. If they don’t, you will face a strike. This rule has resulted in the preseason game average being reduced by 26 minutes to two hours and 35 minutes.
pickup limit
This rule derives from the previous one. The pickoff is the throw the pitcher makes to first base to prevent a player on the opposing team from stealing second base. There used to be no limit to the number of pitches a pitcher could make to their first baseman, but now they can only pitch twice. If there is a third, the runner automatically advances to the next. This rule is intended to add movement and action to the game, resulting in more athletic players stealing bases. This could bring back a style seen in the 80’s when teams incorporated very fast players into their formations. During that decade, the American and National Leagues that make up MLB added more than 3,000 stolen bases a year. But this trend has evaporated. The league hasn’t reached that number in 11 years.
Restriction to defensive formation
According to Morgan Sword, fans want to see more hits and doubles in addition to increased base stealing. Starting this Thursday, the first and second base defenders must be positioned to the right of the second plate. The shortstop and third baseman will be positioned on the left. All four must have both feet on the sand at the time the pitcher releases. With this move, the league aims to break a popular defensive lock that pushed the third baseman toward second and the other three players placed as outfielders, drastically reducing the room for hits. Formation has been shown to have the greatest impact on left-handed players, who were more exposed to right-hand flyouts. The regulation is responsible for the fact that the batting average has fallen and strikeouts have risen since 2012. The penalty for not complying with the new rule is an automatic ball to the pitcher’s account.
Nationals’ Jeimer Candelario steals second base in a game against the Astros.Rich Storry (USA TODAY Sports)
larger bases
The width of these has been increased from 15 inches (38 centimeters) to 18 (45 centimeters). The home does not change its dimensions. With this adjustment, MLB intends to encourage steals while giving defensive players more room to act in doubles games, eliminating opponents who sweep after the run and avoiding collisions that could result in injury to both.
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