Since 1968, the batting average across MLB has been.243. Since 1972, the on- base percentage has been.312. The percentage is currently.395. It is the lowest it has been in four years. The hitters have struggled in the past. Five years ago, the batting average was 12 points higher, the on- base percentage was 12 points higher, and the slugging percentage was 31 points higher. We thought the elimination of spider tack and other sticky substances would help liven bats across the league, but it wasn't spider tack that created this second dead-ball era, it's the amount of data available to MLB teams.
It became official earlier in the day. New rule changes will be implemented as soon as next season. A pitch clock and the banning of the defensive shift are two big ones.
The bases will be bigger next year. That is pretty unimportant. It is possible that stolen bases will be less difficult. The pitch clock and shift restrictions make it inconsequential.
It's been a long time since the pitch clock was last used. The biggest complaint from younger fans is that games take forever to start. It should be fixed by the pitch clock. The pitch clock had been used by Minor League Baseball for a long time. The games were always under two and a half hours.
Seven to 10 runs would be the average for games. The hits would arrive at the same rate. The game was fast. It should theoretically help television deals in every market as younger fans should be more likely to watch games all the way through, because games were flying by. It should be even sweeter.
Shift regulations are included.
It's boy. People think this will change the game. The thing will not. Some people think it's a cop-out for hitters who don't know how to hit. That doesn't mean this was a bad decision
Fans were going to be angry regardless of what baseball did. Shift restrictions are a positive thing. Every team has a lot of data on every hitter, so they know where the opposing player is going to hit the ball. Anybody can reach base. Line drives used to be a sure way to get a base hit. They are going to be ground outs to the infield. The pulled line drive used to be a single. It is a fly out to the second baseman who is playing on the grass.
I believe that these restrictions are the best for the growth of baseball because hitters are being coddled with them. Hardcore fans will be upset but they will still watch. Making changes to create more offense is a good way to reach the consumer market.
I think it's a problem to prevent infielders from playing in the grass. Even if the second baseman was lined up in shallow right, there would still be a huge hole that the hitter could hit through. Without the infield lined up closer to the plate on that side of the bag, weak ground balls would likely result in infield hits. If you want to prevent people from lining up wherever they want on the infield, at least let them position themselves on that side of second base. I think that is how it is.
You will be happy to know that the rule changes are not set in stone. Craig Counsell believes that baseball has to get out of that mode. We try to make it better. We have to try to improve it. You have to fail in order to do better. We can be wrong because it will lead to a better answer. If these changes don't do anything to grow the game or help MLB offenses, then MLB might go back to the old rules.
We don't know how long these rules will be in effect, if they are ever removed, but MLB needed to implement these changes just to see how it would affect their outreach. Is it possible for games to be faster with more offense. I think that sounds like a dream. It would be worse if people didn't give baseball a chance because they found it boring. I want to share the love of my favorite sport with everyone and if these rule changes make even one person I know a baseball fan, then that is one more person I can invite out to a game. That could be brought to the table by these rules.
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