Rules Changes

[ChuckS]

They should enforce the current strike zone rather than try to change it.  Way too many balls of the plate are called strikes.  I'm all for an electronic strike zone. 

[VeveJones007]

10 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

Insert obligatory comment about Britton and a raised strike zone.

Not sure how shrinking the strike zone is going to increase balls in play.  Seems to me anything gained by a lower K rate will be lost to an increased walk rate.  Strikeouts are not near as boring to me as walks.

The point of the rule change is to get rid of the unhittable pitch that grazes the bottom of the knee cap while barreling downward. 

Britton is a perfect example with his 80% GB rate. If you increase hittable pitches, it will lead to better contact and more hits.

[VeveJones007]

4 hours ago, ChuckS said:

They should enforce the current strike zone rather than try to change it.  Way too many balls of the plate are called strikes.  I'm all for an electronic strike zone. 

It's both. You can't have the bottom of the kneecap be a strike. The only thing you can do is hit it in the ground right in front of the plate. Change that and then properly enforce the zone from there.

[Number5]

25 minutes ago, VeveJones007 said:

It's both. You can't have the bottom of the kneecap be a strike. The only thing you can do is hit it in the ground right in front of the plate. Change that and then properly enforce the zone from there.

This is just wrong.  It isn't the location so much as the downward movement.  There are plenty of MLB hitters that can drive a straight pitch just below the knee.

[NashLumber]

5 hours ago, OFFNY said:

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Good point.

Also, the likelihood of a pitcher throwing the ball away while attempting an intentional walk is a lot higher than the likelihood of a team screwing up the base-running on a home run ball that goes over the wall ........ so you could argue that eliminating the home run trot around the bases MAKES EVEN MORE SENSE THAN eliminating the process of throwing four pitches for an intentional walk, of which the pitcher has to make sure that he doesn't come down with a temporary case of Steve Blass-itis, Mackey Sasser-itis, Chuck Knoblach-itis.,etc.

 

 

Eliminating the HR trot would certainly cramp Bautista's style. Or at least cause him to cook up more inventive / epic bat flips on the way back to the bench. 

[Satyr3206]

At this rate lets do away with the season and let FanGraphs, or one of the predictions dictate the season. That would save what? 6 or 7 months.

[Satyr3206]

I see no sense in trying to cut 3 minutes off the game time. It won't accomplish anything except to make some paper pusher feel better. Wonder if Manfred is listening. Baseball isn't a timed sport. I would think he would know that.

 

[InsideCoroner]

16 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

I expect the grip it and rip it mentality would soon be replaced by the glacial style the turn of the millennium Yankee and Red Sox teams deployed so effectively.

I'll believe a selective, glacial approach from Jones, Schoop, et al once I see it.  Hackers gonna hack. 
 

If the league is really that adamant about trimming 3 to 5 minutes from the game, then fix the replay system: give managers 30 seconds to officially challenge, and give the reviewing umpire in New York 60 seconds to make a ruling. I would also get rid of replays on stolen base attempts (especially when a runner is safe but loses contact with the base for a millisecond), but maybe that's just me. 

[Can_of_corn]

17 minutes ago, InsideCoroner said:

I'll believe a selective, glacial approach from Jones, Schoop, et al once I see it.  Hackers gonna hack. 
 

If the league is really that adamant about trimming 3 to 5 minutes from the game, then fix the replay system: give managers 30 seconds to officially challenge, and give the reviewing umpire in New York 60 seconds to make a ruling. I would also get rid of replays on stolen base attempts (especially when a runner is safe but loses contact with the base for a millisecond), but maybe that's just me. 

I don't expect Jones and Schoop to adjust.

[weams]

17 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

I expect the grip it and rip it mentality would soon be replaced by the glacial style the turn of the millennium Yankee and Red Sox teams deployed so effectively.

Yay. Five hour games!

[weams]

7 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I don't expect Jones and Schoop to adjust.

I don't expect any MLB players to adjust much.

[Can_of_corn]

7 minutes ago, weams said:

I don't expect any MLB players to adjust much.

Heyward will be pleased.

[Frobby]

3 hours ago, Satyr3206 said:

I see no sense in trying to cut 3 minutes off the game time. It won't accomplish anything except to make some paper pusher feel better. Wonder if Manfred is listening. Baseball isn't a timed sport. I would think he would know that.

 

If they could trim 30 minutes, I'd be in favor.   3 minutes isn't worth the bother.   

[webbrick2010]

If they really want to speed it up make it 3 balls for a walk 2 strikes for a strikeout, begin every at bat 1-1 like slow pitch softball

or go even further make it one pitch decides all... I love those one pitch (count starts 3-2) softball tournaments get in a lot of games in a single day.

[PaulFolk]

5 hours ago, Satyr3206 said:

I see no sense in trying to cut 3 minutes off the game time. It won't accomplish anything except to make some paper pusher feel better. Wonder if Manfred is listening. Baseball isn't a timed sport. I would think he would know that.

 

Every little bit helps. If there was one single change MLB could make that would cut 15 minutes off every game, then sure, that'd be great. But until that solution comes along, the best method is to make smaller, incremental changes that hopefully will add up to cut time.

And yes, baseball isn't a timed sport. But that doesn't mean games should go on forever. People don't want to watch 4+ hour games on a daily basis. There's nothing wrong with trying to shorten games as long as you're not fundamentally altering the sport.