Tag: MLB rules

2024 MLB rule changes explained, including a tweaked pitch clock and an upgraded runner’s lane

The 2024 MLB season will start with some rule changes. Here’s what you need to know.

The 2024 MLB season is just under three months away, and we’re getting some new changes for next year.

When the Dodgers and Padres kick off the 2024 season by playing the first-ever MLB games in South Korea (March 20-21), things might look slightly different as the league continues to build upon the changes it made in 2023.

Per Jayson Stark of the Athletic, the latest changes intend to make the game more efficient and safer for players, but that doesn’t mean it won’t possibly come with hiccups as teams adjust.

We’ve got you covered if you’re wondering what new rules will roll out in 2024. Here’s what you can expect to see:

A frustrated Manny Machado became the first MLB player to get ejected over a clock violation

The MLB rules are going just great.

With the new MLB rules, players knew they were going to need to make adjustments — particularly when it comes to a hitter’s at-bat routine. The days of adjusting batting gloves for 20 seconds are over, and Manny Machado learned that the hard way on Tuesday.

The Padres star was ejected during the first inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks after he was initially called for a clock violation and automatic third strike. The new MLB rules require hitters to be in the box and alert to the pitch by the eight-second mark. Replays showed that Machado was adjusting his batting gloves before attempting to call time right at eight seconds.

As home plate umpire Ron Kulpa tried to explain to Machado that the timeout wasn’t signaled in time (clock already showed eight seconds when the hand raised), manager Bob Melvin came out from the dugout in an attempt to cool down Machado.

By then, it was too late. Machado had choice words for Kulpa who quickly signaled the ejection.

But hey, if you’re going to get ejected, at least make it meaningful. Machado made history as the first player to get ejected over the pitch clock in the regular season.

Mariners fans tried to rattle the Guardians by loudly counting down the pitch clock

Another way the pitch clock is helping baseball.

We’re just a few days into the MLB season, and with the new rules, we’re going to see a totally different style of baseball for 2023 and beyond.

That could also bring a new element to the atmosphere at MLB ballparks. We at least heard that play out in Seattle on Saturday.

Obviously, the pitch clock is the huge change for this season. Gone are the days of pitchers taking a minute between pitches, and the actual clock in the stadiums gives fans something to focus on as a way of throwing an opposing pitcher off his rhythm — or at least trying to.

Guardians pitcher James Karinchak had a rough outing in Thursday’s Opening Day, and the crowd played a part in that. So, when the Guardians reliever was back for an appearance on Saturday, Mariners fans tried once again to rattle Karinchak.

They counted down the pitch clock in an attempt to shake Karinchak’s focus. It was baseball’s answer to Giannis Antetokounmpo at the free-throw line in an away game.

Now, it would have been especially great if the Mariners fans had a fake count going — like what you sometimes see in college basketball — but if the clock gets fans more engaged with the action, that’s just an added bonus to the new rules.

Fans on Twitter also had thoughts on the Mariners’ countdown.

Ump oddly charged Jeff McNeil with a strike because Pete Alonso walked back to first base

OK, this rule NEEDS to go.

If the first few hours of baseball for the 2023 MLB season are any indication, we’re going to see some weird situations play out when it comes to the new rules.

The New York Mets got a quick lesson in that on Thursday.

During the Opening Day matchup between the Mets and Marlins, some confusion sparked after home plate umpire Larry Vanover stopped play and charged a strike to Jeff McNeil. The violation in the case had nothing to do with McNeil. But instead, Vanover thought that Pete Alonso was taking too long to return to first base after McNeil’s foul ball. The penalty for that was a strike charged to … McNeil.

Alonso, McNeil, the Mets broadcast and manager Buck Showalter were all justifiably confused with the ruling. Alonso did walk back to first base, but it didn’t look like he was holding up the game.

Really, Vanover’s decision to call a violation in that spot, charge the strike and then explain the ruling to the Mets caused more a delay than Alonso’s quick walk back to first base.

Despite the extra strike, McNeil would get a hit in that at-bat to put the Mets up by three runs.

Fans also had plenty of thoughts on that ruling by Vanover.

The Royals tried to get creative with a shift against Joey Gallo and still messed it up

The creativity backfired.

Major League Baseball has introduced plenty of new rules for the 2023 season, and the shift is indeed a part of the game that MLB wants to see less often. With the new rules, the shift isn’t completely banned — just restricted. And teams have found a way to work around the restrictions.

It just didn’t exactly work out for the Kansas City Royals on the first attempt.

Joey Gallo — now with the Minnesota Twins — is one of those hitters who saw the extremist of shifts deployed against him in the pre-New Rules era. He’s a true pull hitter who doesn’t hit for average or bunt, so you’d see entire infields stacked towards the right side. Even with the new rules, the Red Sox used a loophole against Gallo in spring training.

On Thursday, the Royals took a similar approach, moving right fielder M.J. Melendez in to play the “rover” position in shallow right field. But Melendez plays outfield (and catcher) for a reason — he’s not used to fielding ground balls and throwing to first.

This new take on the Gallo Shift worked in theory because, well, Gallo hit the ball right at Melendez. The Royals right fielder just couldn’t make the play, and Gallo reached on the error. In previous seasons, you’d see the third baseman take that “rover” spot and easily make the play. So while the shift is still around to some degree, it might be less effective when you’re asking outfielders to make infielder-type plays.

But is that shift on Gallo even necessary? Sure, he’s a heavy pull hitter. But he also has a career .199 average and a huge strikeout rate. Teams should be able to handle him without reconfiguring an entire outfield.

Gallo probably knows it’s coming by now, though.

Yankees’ Nestor Cortes had pettiest next-pitch response to the umpire calling a ‘quick pitch’ violation

This was so great.

Every pitcher and batter is going to need to make adjustments to the new MLB rules. And even over the course of spring training, we’ve seen a dramatic drop in pitch clock violations. We also saw some pitchers trying to find loopholes in the system.

That has led to MLB making some minor tweaks to the rules, and that came into play with Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes on Tuesday.

During a spring training game against the Washington Nationals, Cortes tried to time a quick pitch right around the eight-second mark to Jeimer Candelario the exact moment he looked up. However, home plate umpire Reed Basner called the pitch dead immediately because Cortes did not give Candelario adequate time to become alert to the pitcher.

The result was an automatic ball.

But look how Cortes responded to the ruling. Since the bases were empty, he went with the opposite of a quick pitch and broke out an exaggerated, swaying delivery.

You could see Cortes laughing about the whole sequence. You have to love that pettiness right there. Despite the automatic ball, Cortes would get Candelario to ground out in the at-bat.

MLB fans had thoughts on the whole response too.

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Michael Chavis and Willson Contreras both struck out on the weirdest clock violations after foul balls

Old habits are tough to break.

Opening Day is just over a week away, and MLB players are running out of time to get adjusted to the new rules. After all, old habits are tough to break.

In the past couple days alone, we’ve seen two eerily similar strikeouts by virtue of pitch-clock violations. According to the new MLB rules, the batter must be completely in the box and alert to the pitcher by the eight-second mark. Failure to do so results in an automatic strike.

So, you really don’t want that automatic strike to happen in a two-strike count. Both Michael Chavis and Willson Contreras learned that the hard way this week.

During Monday’s Grapefruit League game between the Marlins and Cardinals, Contreras was called out on strikes because he was too busy adjusting his batting gloves following a foul ball.

The umpire even gave Contreras a couple extra seconds to get himself ready, but the Cardinals catcher simply took too long. Then, in another game involving the Cardinals, the Nationals’ Michael Chavis was called out on strikes when he essentially did the same thing as Contreras. He took too long to adjust his batting gloves after a foul ball with two strikes.

That one seemed awfully close as the camera cut away right at the eight-second mark. But Chavis did appear to be in the process of looking towards the pitcher right around eight seconds. And while there’s a reasonable argument to be made that a foul ball deserves more time, players will eventually get used to the new rules.

In spring training alone, we’ve seen progress with violations becoming less common.

Plus, players will likely be more cognizant of the rules once the games actually matter. Until then, many fans had mixed feelings on these two violations.

Zack Greinke avoided a pitch clock violation in the most Zack Greinke way when his PitchCom malfunctioned

Only Greinke would do this.

Every big-league player is using this spring training to get acquainted to the new MLB rules. Pitchers have to deal with a pitch clock and pickoff limit, and batters also have to be ready to hit by the eight-second mark.

But those rules don’t account for a PitchCom malfunction. Zack Greinke learned that as it happened on Tuesday night.

During a Cactus League game between the Royals and Reds, Greinke was having some issues with his PitchCom. And rather than taking a pitch clock violation to address the problem, Greinke broke out the most Greinke of pitches: his 47 mph eephus pitch.

The pitch was taken low for a ball. A pitch clock violation also would have been a ball, so the pitch technically didn’t make much of a difference. But it’s always hilarious when we get to see Greinke break out the eephus pitch — even when he didn’t want to.

Greinke took a pitch clock violation earlier in the inning and struck out Joey Votto on the next pitch.

So, he’s able to work through either approach. Fans, in particular, enjoyed seeing how Greinke handled the situation.

A bizarre ‘automatic’ strikeout in the minor leagues had MLB fans hating the pitch clock rule

MLB games could have this in 2023.

The various levels of minor league baseball have long doubled as a live laboratory of sorts for Major League Baseball. It’s where proposed changes to baseball rules go to test their viability. And as baseball desperately looks to speed up the pace of play, a pitch clock looks to be the most effective way to get that done.

With the new CBA, MLB will be able to institute a pitch clock as soon as the 2023 season. It’s inevitable. But wow, it’s pretty clear that some baseball fans are absolutely going to hate it.

A bizarre sequence out of the Class-AA Texas League went viral over the weekend, showing the Midland RockHounds’ Jordan Diaz getting called out on an “automatic” strike with a 2-2 count because he wasn’t ready for the pitch fast enough. Here’s the video:

A couple minor-league rules came into play there. The first being that a batter is required to keep a foot in the batter’s box at all times unless he’s granted time. Diaz did appear to have a foot in the box as he collected himself between pitches, but home plate umpire Pete Talkington appeared to rule against Diaz for a pitch clock violation.

See: The pitch timer doesn’t just apply to the pitcher. In Class AA, pitchers have to deliver the pitch within 14 seconds with the bases empty (18 seconds with a runner on). But the hitter also has to be in the box and ready to hit at nine seconds remaining on the pitch clock.

And that was where the ruling was a bit harsh on Diaz. He swung and missed, briefly collected himself and was fully in the box right around eight or nine seconds left on the clock. He wasn’t intentionally eating into the pitch clock or holding up the game, but Talkington thought it was enough to call the automatic strike (the penalty for batter pitch clock violations). A pitcher violation, on the other hand, would have been an automatic ball.

Despite the umpire’s announcement of the call seemingly taking up more time than a pitch would have, the rule has been able to cut the average game time down to around 2.5 hours. It’s going to come to MLB soon, but that video certainly did not have fans excited for the change.