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After many years of... perhaps changing, the times in baseball are finally changing. The collective bargaining agreement that ended MLB's 2022 dispute implemented certain reforms, like as the enlarged postseason structure and the universal designated hitter, and opened the way for commissioner Rob Manfred and the league to execute future major rule changes more quickly.
The first wave will take effect on Opening Day 2023 and will most certainly dominate spring training discourse and planning. MLB announced many on-field rule changes in September 2022, including the long-awaited pitch clock (or pitch timer, as MLB is officially calling it). Two additional substantial modifications were agreed upon as part of the CBA discussions, but will not take effect until 2023.
Fans should keep an eye out for six alterations, some of which will be obvious right away and others that may take a moment to see. To get ready for the new season, let's rank MLB's new improvements by how obvious they'll be in 2023 and make some educated estimates about how they could alter the viewing experience.
1. Pitch timer
The game is getting a clock. That might feel like a jarring addition, but it’s meant to bring the sport back into line with the experience most fans grew up with. The average nine-inning game took 3 hours, 3 minutes in 2022. All eight seasons on record in which nine-inning games averaged at least three hours have come since 2014. In the minor leagues, the pitch timer cut the average game by 25 minutes. If that effect were replicated in the majors, it would speed games up to a pace last seen in 2006.
As a refresher, here’s how the timer will count down in each situation:
Pitchers must begin their motions by the time the timer expires or be charged with an automatic ball. Batters will also be governed by the timer. They must be “in the box and alert to the pitcher” by the eight-second mark, or they'll be charged with an automatic strike.
2. Infield shift restrictions
In a move to tamp down some of the creative defensive positioning that has taken away more and more hits in recent seasons, MLB is implementing limitations on infield defense. This season, fielding teams must have four infielders on the dirt at the start of each pitch, with at least two defenders entirely on each side of second base. If the defense violates the rule, the hitting team can choose an automatic ball or accept the result of the play (such as if the pitch resulted in a double despite the positioning infraction).
Teams will undoubtedly draw up some new forms of defensive wizardry within these new boundaries, but the basic shape of infields will look like the stereotypical position graphics more often than they have in recent years.
3. Pickoff rules
This is technically entering the rulebook as part of the pitch timer, but the new law of the running game is worth examining on its own. Pitchers are no longer allowed unlimited throws to a base, at least not without the threat of a penalty. There are two “disengagements” allowed per plate appearance — with a disengagement being a pickoff attempt or a step off the mound that isn’t an injury or a mound visit. A pitcher can attempt a third pickoff, but the runner automatically advances if the pickoff isn’t successful. Also of note: The counter resets if a runner advances.
At least at first, this will be another huge change for veteran pitchers and for the strategy of the game as a whole. New York Mets manager Buck Showalter, in classic Buck style, is reportedly planning to give his players a quiz upon arrival at spring training to see how much of the new rules they have internalized and how much they need drilled into them before real games begin.
4. Balanced schedule
If you’re a season ticket-holder or devotee of your team’s local broadcast, perhaps this change will prove underrated. In the new version of MLB’s schedule, every team will play every other team every season.
Here’s how it will work for any given team:
In total, each club will play 46 interleague matchups, up from 16. Along with the 12-team playoff format and the universal DH adopted in 2022, this is a move toward an NFL- or NBA-style view of league competition. And as MLB points out, it will create a more level playing field in crucial wild-card races, as “teams in the same league will feature 76% of common opponents, up from 52% in an unbalanced schedule.”
5. Ads on uniforms
Yes, the uniforms will have advertising patches in 2023. A staple of European soccer kits, corporate sponsorship unsurprisingly leapt into American athletic attire with MLS in 2007. It began its creep into the country’s more mainstream sports with the NBA in 2017, then continued onto NHL helmets and sweaters. MLB negotiated the right for owners to sell jersey patches as part of the new CBA, with commissioner Rob Manfred calling them “a reality of life in professional sports.”
The San Diego Padres, the first team to strike a deal for their patch, will charge Motorola $9 million per year. Other teams will undoubtedly rake in even more for uniform real estate.
6. Bigger bases
Finally, the bases. They are going to be bigger. Specifically, they will be 18 inches square instead of 15 inches square. While there’s some hope that this game of inches might encourage more stolen bases, the stated reason behind the change is player safety. A bigger bag allows runners and fielders more room to avoid dangerous collisions and entanglements, especially at first.
Fans who find that this change jumps off the screen at them are encouraged to pursue careers as fighter pilots. For everyone else, sit back and enjoy the show as a constantly evolving sport gets some new guardrails.
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