The Phillies and the 29 other teams in Major League Baseball have a few more rules they need to abide by thanks to MLB’s new rule changes.
The next time you watch a Phillies game there will be a few new rule changes in play as Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association announced new modifications to the MLB rule book. Pace-of-play is a major focus of these changes.
As anticipated, pitchers are no longer required to throw four pitches for an intentional walk. The manager will signal to the umpire that he wants to walk the batter and that batter will immediately take first base. This rule change intends to help shorten the game – whether that’s the best method is another matter – but there will no longer be the opportunity for intentional walk wild pitches, like the one that led Triple-A Lehigh Valley to a victory last year.
Several changes were also added to the replay review process, most notably that managers will now only have 30 seconds to decide whether they want to challenge a play. Critics of the replay review said managers took too long to challenge a play. This change hopes to silence those criticisms.
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In addition, the time when umpires are allowed to challenge non-home run calls on their own is pushed back to the eighth inning rather than the seventh. This rule only applies after a manager uses up all of their challenges.
Finally, the replay officials in New York are limited to two minutes to make their decision. Like the other modifications to the replay review process, this change is intended to shorten the duration of games.
Beyond the pace-of-play modifications, the league made a few other minor changes. One modification states “a pitcher may not take a second step toward home plate with either foot or otherwise reset his pivot foot in his delivery of the pitch.” This is likely to counteract San Diego Padres pitcher Carter Capps’s controversial “hop-step” delivery.
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Another change prevents teams from using markers on the field in order to identify where their fielders should stand. Last May, the Dodgers requested that the Mets’ grounds crew leave markers in the grass in the outfield to show where they want their outfielders to stand. The Mets contacted the league, and now MLB has officially disallowed it.
The final rule change “requires base coaches to position themselves behind the line of the coach’s box closest to home plate and the front line that runs parallel to the foul line prior to each pitch.”
The coach can leave the box once the ball is put in play as long as it doesn’t interfere with the play.
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Major League Baseball clearly wants to shorten the length of games as well as correct a few ways players and teams try to bend the rules, and these rules are meant to accomplish those goals.