Fangraphs Piece On The Impact of New Rules.

[Can_of_corn]

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/how-have-the-new-rules-changed-the-game/

Quote

the average nine-inning game has lasted two hours and 37 minutes this year, down from three hours and three minutes last year.

That despite P/PA and PA/G being very close to unchanged.

 

More stolen base attempts and highest success rate of all time

Pitch violations are overall not impactful.

Quote

Last year, lefties hit .226 when they hit a ball on the ground. This year, that number is up to .236. They’re hitting their grounders slightly harder, but the main change is in defensive alignment. That said, the change also isn’t particularly impactful. As recently as 2017, lefties were batting .241 on grounders in a world of legal shifts. In 2021, lefties batted .232 on grounders. This isn’t much of a change.

 

I didn't think getting rid of the shift would make a big difference, folks will just notice when a ball drops that wouldn't with a shift.

Edited July 18, 2023 by Can_of_corn

[BRobinsonfan]

Nice article.  It's good to see that the rule changes have speeded up the game without tipping the scale too much on production.  I like seeing more steals, but I'd like to tweak the rule to increase the allowable "disengagements" by at least one.  

[Three Run Homer]

Thanks for posting this--interesting stuff.  These numbers may understate the impact of the shift on LHH.  For instance, I wonder if line drives that are fielded on a bounce and converted to outs by someone playing in short right field are counted as "hitting a ball on the ground".   Even if they are, I'm sure that there are line drives that were caught on the fly by the short right fielder last year that are falling in this year.  

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, Three Run Homer said:

Thanks for posting this--interesting stuff.  These numbers may understate the impact of the shift on LHH.  For instance, I wonder if line drives that are fielded on a bounce and converted to outs by someone playing in short right field are counted as "hitting a ball on the ground".   Even if they are, I'm sure that there are line drives that were caught on the fly by the short right fielder last year that are falling in this year.  

Line drives are mentioned.  I did not want to directly copy a wall of text.