Rob Manfred, MLB considering radical changes to game
HOUSTON - Major League Baseball, alarmed by the game’s lack of action this season is considering making the most radical changes to the game in more than a century.
Commissioner Rob Manfred said that baseball is contemplating everything from altering the strike zone to limiting the number of pitching changes in a game, to curtailing the number of shifts, to even installing 20-second time clocks for pitchers.
If these changes are implemented, it would lead to perhaps the most radical rule changes since baseball reduced the number of balls to four in 1889 to constitute a walk. Certainly, it would have more impact than the American League installing the DH in 1973.
Anything and everything will be under review, Manfred said, in hopes of breathing life into offenses, providing more action, while also quickening the pace of games.
All changes must be negotiated with the MLB Players’ Association. MLB and the MLBPA are negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement; the current one expires Dec. 1.
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It could all start with Major League Baseball’s first time clock, requiring pitchers to throw the ball within 20 seconds.
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“We feel it’s been effective in the minor leagues,’’ Manfred said. “You look month-by-month in terms of where we were in terms of game time, we did really well early and kind of regressed the second half of last year, and certainly this year.
“The more we can have on the field, constant reminders so it’s in front of people’s minds, the better off we are in terms of continuing to move the game along. And I think the clock is probably the quintessential example of the reminder that keeps pace in people’s minds.”
Manfred didn’t hesitate when asked if he would like the clock implemented in the major leagues, speeding up games that are averaging 3 hours per nine-inning games - 12 minutes longer than in 2006.
“I would,’’ he said, “because there’s no temporal assigned to that.”
The owners spent more time studying how the game has changed the past 50 years, and ways to perhaps liven it, than any topic during their quarterly meetings. Yes, they talked about the collective bargaining negotiations, and optimism remains high that a labor deal will be resolved by Dec. 1 without a work stoppage.
Yet, the hottest topic was whether radical moves are necessary, even if it means changing the way relief pitchers can be used.
“I think you could make an argument that more relievers have lengthened the game,’’ Manfred said. “More pitching changes has slowed down the pace of the game and the unbelievable effectiveness of some of those relief pitchers has robbed some of the action from the game.”
So, yes, everything and everything is under consideration, making sure that baseball keeps up with the times and attracts a younger audience, while balancing its proud heritage and tradition.
“I think that sometimes baseball fans think about what should happen with the game, with sort of an artificial construct,’’ Manfred said. “That the choices between preserving the game as it came down originally from the mountain, and making some changes to the game.
“The question is: “You take a snapshot after 40 years of that and you say, ‘Wow. Here’s what it looks like. Here’s what it used to look like and should we be thinking about what has occurred and whether we want to allow it to continue to go on the path it’s on?”
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Statistics have shown that there were 2,400 infield shifts employed by teams just five years ago, Manfred said, and now baseball is on pace for 28,000 shifts, killing batting averages for everyone not named Jose Altuve.
“I’m not saying that’s necessarily a bad thing,’’ Manfred said, “but it has ramifications for what people see when they buy that ticket to go to the ballpark. We just wanted to point out this whole series of changes that has occurred over time, very naturally, in the game and pose the question of whether or not we should be managing that change more aggressively.”
Certainly, the pitching numbers are dizzying. There were average of 27 pitchers employed by clubs last season, compared to just 17 in 1988. There is now an average of 7.77 pitchers used in nine-inning games, throwing 288.7 pitches, with a record 3.87 per plate-appearance.
Meanwhile, major leaguers are on pace to produce the second-most home runs in history, 2.31 per game, but also strike out more times, 15.57, than at any time in baseball.
You add it all up, and the number of balls put in play are at a historic low.
“I think when you have a new administration,’’ said Manfred, approved by owners as commissioner in 2014, “it’s a good time to take a really hard look at the product. I think there are pieces to this project that are not yet complete, including what our fans are seeing, what they like, what they don’t like in a more comprehensive way than we’ve done in recent years.’’
There will be no rash decisions, Manfred says. This will be an ongoing, multi-year project. Ideas will be discussed with the players union, TV rights holders, with continuing dialogue in future owners’ meetings.
“We’re not at the point of recommendations, decisions,’’ Manfred said, “as to what is or isn’t possible.”
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If we’re going to see any instant change, Manfred acknowledged, it will be altering the strike zone. Shrinking the strike zone is the easiest solution to enhancing the offense, without altering the height of the mound.
No matter what eventually transpires, or how long it takes, it’s a shrewd move by Manfred and his staff to addressing baseball’s flaws. Baseball may have their most young stars in decades, but it also has an audience with an average age of 56 during last year’s nationally televised games.
Those demographics have certainly gotten Manfred’s attention.
“It’s wanting to take a fresh look at where the game is,’’ Manfred said, “and what we see as our job, which is to put the best possible game on the field for our fans, and preserve what we all believe is the best game in the world.’’
That time may have arrived.
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