America's favorite pastime is expected to crank up the runs scored and shorten the game next year.
NEW YORK — Major League Baseball is introducing some of its most radical rules next season, adopting a pitch clock and limiting defensive shifts after concluding modern analytics created a slower, less entertaining sport.
Union head Tony Clark was noticeably absent, as he was at the announcement of an agreement in March that ended a 99-day lockout. A catcher is required to be in the catcher’s box with nine seconds left on the clock and a hitter in the batter’s box and focused on the pitcher with eight seconds remaining. Penalties for violations will be a ball called against a pitcher and a strike called against a batter.
Two infielders will be required to be on either side of second and all infielders to be within the outer boundary of the infield when the pitcher is on the rubber. Infielders may not switch sides unless there is a substitution, but five-man infields will still be allowed, MLB executive vice president Morgan Sword said.
“The game has evolved in a way that nobody would have chosen if we were sitting down 25 years ago to chart a path towards the best version of baseball,” Epstein said. “Nobody would have asked for fans to have to wait more than four minutes for balls to be put into play. Nobody would have asked for generational lows and stolen bases, triples and doubles.”
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