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This offseason Major League Baseball decided to make rather sweeping rule changes. While we’ll see new base sizes, a pitch clock, and limited shifting, it’s the rule 2020 brought us that may continue to shake things up the most. Rob Manfred decided a runner will forever start on second during extra-innings for the regular season, and it’s a bit curious how much that could hurt the Minnesota Twins. Image courtesy of Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports Back in 2020, after a late start to the season following Covid-19, Major League Baseball decided to make doubleheaders seven-inning games and attempt to limit their length by placing a “ghost runner” on second base during extra innings. The pairing had some validity as rosters were tighter and a risk of availability constantly plagued teams. Now, as we have adapted to the changes on a human and worldly level, it appears that Major League Baseball will at least keep a different set of rules for longer baseball games. The problem is that not all teams will benefit equally. Yes, every single organization will be playing with the same parameters, but the outcomes can’t be created equal. Baseball’s new extra-inning rule is largely similar to the shootout in hockey. Seen by National Hockey League purists as eyewash, the shootout is more for a casual fan looking for an extra bit of excitement. It certainly waters down the outcome, however, as the game is all of a sudden determined through different parameters. Hockey does a decent job addressing this by awarding the losing team with a single point for making it to overtime. Baseball’s problem is that the standings simply aren’t set up to reflect an outcome of anything less than a win or loss. It would be overly drastic for the league to adopt a points system, but the sport has also watered down the value of a win once getting to extra innings. If there is something that has always set baseball apart, it is that the sport is played without a clock. The only thing guaranteed in baseball is that you have 27 outs to be better than the other team. In extra-innings, each side traded opportunities with three outs at a time. Now though, it becomes who can immediately capitalize off of a manufactured scenario. Last season Rocco Baldelli’s club played 15 extra-inning games In them, they went 5-10 with just a -3 run differential. The year prior, in 2021, Minnesota played 23 extra-inning games and posted a +2 run differential. During the first season of a runner being placed on second base, Minnesota was 3-1 with a +1 run differential. As a whole, the volatility of outcomes appears to be drastic. It is not a benefit to routinely play extra-inning games. With a 26-man roster and only 40 players to choose from at any given time, racking up lengthy results isn’t a sustainable path to health. What is problematic is that results are determined differently once getting to those extra-inning games, and not every team will have the same amount of instances to compare. Carrying a strong nine-inning record, but dropping games in which you have a runner start on second to open an inning seems counterproductive in evaluating the overall talent of a club. On the flip side, a team finding ways to consistently produce when given the advantage of a placed runner could make up for a lacking performance in standard length games. Having a “ghost runner” certainly isn’t a rule change as substantial as having robot umpires would be, but it may be the one with the greatest impact on the win column. Playing the game differently in the regular season as opposed to the postseason is something both the NHL and NFL have done for a long time. In both of those cases though, the league’s evaluate said outcomes differently. Baseball isn’t going to have ties, and you aren’t receiving half a win for an extra-inning loss. When a strong extra-inning team squeaks into the postseason by a win or two against a team that didn’t go past nine innings very often, this discussion could get that much more interesting. View full article

Manfredball will be in full swing in 2023. No more shifts, a pitch clock and bigger bases. The Twins will need to adjust to the changes and they will probably have to adjust more than most. The larger bases will make infield hits and stolen bases more common. The Twins will need to find a way to get more speed in their lineup and to be better base runners. They have been dreadful running the bases and have yielded oodles of stolen bases and that is not all on their catchers. At the very least, adding players with plus speed will be needed and a renewed emphasis on elements of "small ball" will have to be done. I am looking to 2023 because I believe the 2022 season is basically over. A large number of the Twins' top position players aren't playing (Buxton, Polanco, Kepler) and many viewed as emerging (Jeffers, Kirilloff, Larnach) aren't playing either. Carlos Correa has been an offensive disapointment. Add in that Max Kepler and Gary Sanchez have been playing at replacement player level and it is a near miracle that the Twins are still in a pennant race. They've had plenty of help from Cleveland and Chicago, but it appears to me that it will be a surprise if the Twins finish higher than third in the weak Central Division. I think there will be enough talent for the Twins to contend in 2023. A bullpen that includes Jhoan Duran, Jorge Lopez, Caleb Thielbar and Griffin Jax will be a far cry better than the bully that began the season in 2022. Add in prospective starters Joe Ryan, Sonny Gray, Kenta Maeda, Tyler Mahle and later Chris Paddack with guys like Louis Varland, Simeon Woods-Richardson, Josh Winder and Bailey Ober ready to step in, perhaps there wouldn't be as many short starts and so much pressure on the bullpen. There is position player talent as well. Jose Miranda has shown himself to be a major league hitter with perhaps a ceiling of star, Nick Gordon has developed into a competent major leaguer with positional versatility. Jeffers, Larnach and Kirilloff showed glimpses of what they could be before they were sidelined by injuries. Byron Buxton played most of the season on one leg and yet was valuable. If only he could get his health right for a season, the Twins become a different team. If Correa comes back, he is a fine ballplayer at a crucial position. If not, the Twins have sufficient funds to upgrade the team (pitching staff or position plauers). It is obvious that there will be more injuries, hopefully not as much as 2022, and also that some players will no longer be Twins in the coming year. Circling back to the mark that Commissioner Manfred has made on baseball, with a new Collective Bargaining Agreement in place, MLB is now going to recognize minor leaguers as a union. My fervent hope is that minor league players will get upgraded treatment in future years. Time will tell on that.

Like it or not, change is here: a pitch clock, shift ban, and bigger bases are officially coming to the game's highest level in 2023. Image courtesy of Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports Earlier this year, Twins Daily covered a host of experimental rules MLB was trying out in its minor leagues during the 2022 season. On Friday, September 9, MLB's Joint Competition Committee, which evaluates and ratifies proposed rule changes, officially approved these rules for use in the majors beginning in 2023. Baseball purists can exhale for now: "robot umpires," currently being experimented with at the minor league level, are not coming to MLB quite yet. The pitch clock, ban on the shift, and larger base sizes were the only three rules proposed by MLB to the Joint Competition Committee- a voting body consisting of four active players, six members appointed by MLB and one umpire that was created as part of the this spring's 2022-26 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). Though an automatic ball-strike system, otherwise known as "robot umpires" or "robo umps" is currently being experimented with at the minor-league level, a formal rule change proposal related to the robot umpires has not yet been made to the committee and is not expected for the 2023 season. A common thread connecting these approved changes is MLB's goals of making the game faster and improving player safety. Though these rules will be new at the MLB level, each of these has been tested and deemed successful in the minors during the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Here is a rundown of the changes MLB fans will see in 2023. Pitch Clock For the first time, MLB will implement a pitch clock. Pitchers will be required to deliver the pitch within 20 seconds with runners on base or 15 seconds with the bases empty. The batter must be in the box "alert to the pitcher" with at least eight seconds left on the timer. In order to further keep the game moving, there will be a 30-second timer between batters. In addition, MLB will also implement a limit on throws to first base, which has reportedly increased stolen base attempts in the minors. MLB explained how a pitch clock would work in detail on Friday. The pitch clock has been seen as an overwhelming success at the minor-league level- if success is measured by faster games. MLB reports that games have sped up by an average of 26 minutes at the minor-league level with use of the pitch clock. Players appear to have gotten used to the pitch clock: according to MLB, in its most recent week, the MiLB has seen an average of only .45 pitch clock violations per game. In MLB's eyes, the same amount of game action (or even more, if there are more stolen bases) will be packed into a shorter amount of time, thus increasing excitement for fans. Time will tell whether or not this change will actually lead to greater fan engagement or recapture the interest of a younger age demographic. MLB has the oldest fans among the major sports, with an average age of 57, according to a 2017 survey by Sports Business Journal. Twins Daily covered the pros and cons of a pitch clock earlier this year. Bigger bases First, second, and third base will be increased by three inches (from 15 inches by 15 inches to 18 inches by 18 inches). MLB’s stated goal of using the larger bases is to reduce player injuries on the base paths. With slightly shorter base paths, MLB is also hoping it will increase the amount of stolen base attempts, and thus bolster game excitement. Though a few inches over the course of a 90-foot base path might not sound like much, seasoned baseball fans know that the amount of plays that come down to an inch or two is not insignificant. Larger bases were used in the Arizona Fall League and at the Triple-A level in 2021, and MLB found that they not only reduced injuries but contributed to an increase in stolen base rates due to the slightly shortened base paths and the larger base size making it more difficult to overslide the base. Bigger bases are being used in all full-season minor leagues during the current 2022 season. Previous Twins Daily coverage evaluating the new, oversized bases. Banning the shift New to MLB in 2023, the defensive team will be required to have at least four players on the infield when the pitcher delivers, with two on either side of second base. MLB is hoping that these restrictions "increase the batting average on balls in play, to allow infielders to better showcase their athleticism and to restore more traditional outcomes on batted balls." In other words, MLB wants to see more hits and higher player batting averages, Defensive shifts have been around for years, but in recent years, MLB shifts have greatly increased in prevalence, thus leading to the league cracking down. Currently, in 2022 the league-wide batting average on balls in play is .291 . This is six points lower than in 2012 and 10 points lower than in 2006. According to MLB, this can be attributed to an increase infield in shifts over the years, which have risen by 589% since the start of the 2018 season. A shift ban is being used in Double-A and both Class A levels during the 2022 season. - - Now that these rules are official, what do you think? Will you enjoy faster MLB game times? Do you think robot umpires will actually make it to the majors? Leave a COMMENT below. View full article