The bases will also be enlarged from 15 to 18 inches. (To encourage base stealing)

Additionally pick off attempts will be limited to two. If a pitcher throws over a third time and doesn't pick the runner off a balk will be called with the runners moving up.

 

What a mess!

You want shorter games?  Don't take 5 minutes between half innings.  Just play baseball.  No more goofy fan in the stands garbage.   Want to do away with the shift?  Learn to hit the other way or drop a bunt.

I don’t mind getting rid of the shift. I don’t mind larger bases. I fear the rest of these changes are garbage. 

14 hours ago, The Raven said:

You want shorter games?  Don't take 5 minutes between half innings.  Just play baseball.  No more goofy fan in the stands garbage.   Want to do away with the shift?  Learn to hit the other way or drop a bunt.

Time between innings varies from 2 minutes and 5 seconds (local broadcast) to 2 minutes and 25 seconds (national broadcast) in regular season games. The goofy fan stuff happens during dead time, they don't hold the game up for that stuff. It would help if Pitchers, Hitters and Umpires were ready to go as soon as that time was up. I'd give them :30 seconds after those times to be ready or I'd start calling balls on the pitchers and strikes on the hitters. The players slow the game down much more than the 2 minutes ad breaks do.

Defeating the shift by bunting or hitting the other way? You'd think players and teams with millions of dollars on the line would have thought of that by now...

As an extremely casual baseball fan, these are all good for the game IMO.

On 9/10/2022 at 2:54 PM, TheDeuce said:

As an extremely casual baseball fan, these are all good for the game IMO.

The only change I'm not sure about is the pickoff rule change. I don't think the larger bases will make an obviously noticeable difference, but I don't think it hurts the game in any way. I for one am happy to see the shift go away. The argument that hitters should just learn to bunt or hit the other way drives me nuts. One, I'm not sure why people think it's so simple to just "hit the other way". The consistent, extreme, velocity hitters face from nearly every pitcher they face makes it very difficult to just go opposite field. Pitchers also pitch "to the shift" which makes it even more difficult to hit the other way. And bunting isn't a great solution either, as it is a clear win for the defensive team if your left handed power hitter is dropping bunts a time or two a game, not to mention it's not all that fun to watch. I'm all for pitch clocks.

All businesses, including sports need to continually evolve and improve, or else they will eventually fail. "Traditionalists" who keep resisting change are more dangerous to the survival of the game than these rule changes.

In 1999 there were 79 .300 qualified hitters with 37 batting .315 or better. 45 players hit at least 30 homeruns.

This year there are currently 20 hitting .300 with only 5 hitting over .315. With two weeks to go only 14 have hit 30 homeruns, but that number will likely end up around 20 by the end of the season.

One factor is that the average fastball across all of baseball is 4 mph faster that just 20 years ago. 

Even without tacky stuff on their fingers pitchers are getting further and further ahead of hitters.

On 9/13/2022 at 8:18 PM, Jumper_Dad said:

In 1999 there were 79 .300 qualified hitters with 37 batting .315 or better. 45 players hit at least 30 homeruns.

This year there are currently 20 hitting .300 with only 5 hitting over .315. With two weeks to go only 14 have hit 30 homeruns, but that number will likely end up around 20 by the end of the season.

One factor is that the average fastball across all of baseball is 4 mph faster that just 20 years ago. 

Even without tacky stuff on their fingers pitchers are getting further and further ahead of hitters.

And it's entire rotations. Literally everybody on modern pitching staffs are bringing high velocity. And with starters not going deep in games, you're always facing a fresh arm. People want to blame the hitters for not adjusting, but the pitchers deserve a lot of the credit. Better stuff, better location, hitters never get an easy at bat. Which is why "just hit it the other way" is much easier said than done. And because it's so hard to string hits together to score runs, you see teams even more willing to sacrifice contact to swing for the fences.