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In the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), the MLB Players Association and the owners agreed to increase the size of first, second, and third bases from 15 inches square to 18 inches beginning in the 2023 season. The size of home plate will remain the same.
MLB began experimenting with this larger size of bases during the 2021 season, when they increased the size of the bases in the Triple-A as a part of a group of experimental playing rules.
But is bigger better when it comes to bases? MLB seems to think so.
Bigger bases might lead to less injuries
MLB’s primary reason for experimenting with base size in Triple-A was a belief that making the bases bigger will “reduce player injuries and collisions” on the base paths. The idea is the bigger the base, the more space runners will have to slide around defenders.
With slightly shorter base paths, players will also not have as much time to reach full speed, and therefore slides and collisions might not be at the rates of speed previously seen. It is little surprise that the MLBPA signed onto a change which may allow for the game to be safer for its players in the long run,
Larger bases might equal more action and excitement
A common thread that connects several of the MLB’s new rules- the addition of a pitch clock, banning the shift, and larger base size is a desire to stimulate in-game action and increase excitement for fans.
“The Competition Committee also expects the shorter distances between bases created by increased size to have a modest impact on the success rate of stolen base attempts and the frequency with which a batter-runner reaches base on groundballs and bunt attempts,” the league wrote when introducing the 2021 Triple-A experimental rules.
While a few inches does not sound like much, in baseball there are a sizeable amount of plays at home plate or a base that require deferral to the replay booth because they are too close to call. Every inch and fraction of a second count when trying to beat out a ground ball or steal a base.
In the MLB, the amount of stolen bases has been steadily decreasing over the years and is down from the heyday that largely lasted from the late-70s to mid-90s. Last season, there were 2,213 stolen bases league-wide, which is the fewest in a non-shortened season since 1973, when there were six fewer teams in the league. There are both fewer bases being stolen and fewer attempts. This decline is at least in part due to modern analytics allowing teams to more intelligently gauge the risk-reward of stealing a base. Bunting too has seen a steep decline in usage in the age of analytics.
But in the Triple-A last year, the league saw an increase in stolen base rates after implementing the larger base size, though this is a small sample size and it is difficult to definitively attribute it to the base size.
According to Baseball Reference, during the 2021 MLB season 711 players were caught stealing (only 15 of these were by the Twins- the second lowest in the MLB).
It is the MLB’s hope that not only will the larger base size encourage runners to steal more but will also allow runners to be successful on more of these attempts. The MLB knows fans love watching steals because they are gutsy, daring plays.
Unsuccessful stolen base attempts are not only the result of the ball beating the runner to the bag, but because a base runner over-slid the base or was unable to stop on a dime and not go through the base while running full speed. According to a 2021 report from the New York Post, bigger bases might help solve this issue:
'The current base, if you don't hit the front of it and stop, you're going through it,' Chris Marinak, MLB's chief operations and strategy officer, told the New York Post. 'And this base is a little more forgiving in the sense that, if you hit the front of it, hopefully there's more catch on the base. You can actually stop on the bag without popping off. Certainly that's one of the ideas behind it.'
Stealing bases is exciting for fans, and so is watching players beat out grounders and bunts and stretch singles into doubles. Time will tell if a slight infield change has the ability to make a big difference on in-game action and injury prevention. And if not, the kids will love stomping on those oversize Target Field bases anyway.
What are your thoughts on the league's decision to increase the size of the bases starting in the 2023 season? Leave a COMMENT below.
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