The decisions were made Friday by the sport’s 11-member match committee over the unanimous opposition of the committee’s four players. Commissioner Rob Manfred pushed for the innovations along with a management team that included former Boston and Chicago Cubs executive Theo Epstein, now an MLB consultant. “The influx of data into our industry,” Epstein said, “hasn’t improved the game from an aesthetic or entertainment standpoint. So in my role now, it’s my responsibility to try to look at the big picture, think about what’s great for the fans.” Players supported the third major initiative: longer bases that are expected to reduce injuries and lead to more stolen bases because of the reduced 4 1/2-inch spacing. Manfred called the rules an attempt “to bring back the best form of baseball.” “Number one, the fans want games with a better pace,” he said during a press conference. “Two, the fans want more action, more balls in play. And three, fans want to see more athleticism from our great players.” Union chief Tony Clarke was noticeably absent as he was at the announcement of a deal in March that ended a 99-day lockout. “The players live the game — day in and day out. Rules and regulations on the field affect their preparation, performance and ultimately the integrity of the game itself,” the association said in a statement. “Major League Baseball has been unwilling to substantively address the areas of concern raised by players.” The pitch clock will be set to 15 seconds with no runners on base and 20 seconds with runners on — down from 14/19 tested in Triple-A this season and 14/18 at lower minor league levels. There will be a limit of two of what MLB calls strikeouts — bunt attempts or walks off the rubber — per plate appearance, and he will be called out for a third or more unless there is an out. The strikeout limit, which some players predict will benefit baserunners, will be reset if a runner advances. A catcher must be in the catcher’s box with nine seconds left on the clock and a hitter in the batter’s box and focus on the pitcher with eight seconds left. Penalties for violations shall be a ball called against a pitcher and a strike on a batter. A batter may request time from an umpire once per plate appearance, after which it shall be granted only at the umpire’s discretion if the request is made while in the batter’s box. The clock, which some players have suggested be altered for delays and shutout situations, has helped cut the average time of a nine-game minor league game from 3 hours, 4 minutes in 2021 to 2:38 this season. The average time of a nine-game inning in the major leagues this year is 3:07, up from 2:46 in 1989 and 2:30 in the mid-1950s. “It reminded me of the game I grew up watching in the ’70s and ’80s,” said former outfielder Raúl Ibañez, now an MLB senior vice president. Two players must be on each side of the second baseman and all players must be within the outfield boundary when the pitcher is on the rubber. Infielders cannot switch sides unless there is a substitution, but five-man infields will still be allowed, MLB executive vice president Morgan Sword said. Changeups have increased from 2,357 hit balls in play in 2011 to 28,130 in 2016 and 59,063 last year, according to Sports Info Solutions. Shifts are on pace for 68,000 this season. “I think fans will love the moments when the extreme defensive changes are missing when games are decided not by whether their team’s infield is pitched by the perfect algorithm, but by whether their team’s second baseman can make an athletic dive playing with everything on the line. Epstein said. MLB’s season winning average dropped from .267 in 1997 to .243 this year, with a team’s average hitting streak dropping from 4.77 to 4.33. “The game has evolved in a way that no one would have chosen if we were sitting 25 years ago to chart a path to the best version of baseball,” Epstein said. “No one would ask fans to wait more than four minutes for balls to go into play. No one would ask for strikeouts and stolen bases, triples and doubles.” Base size will increase to 18-inch squares from 15 – first basemen are less likely to get stepped on. In addition, each team will be allowed a sixth hit in the ninth inning the following year if it has used five during the first eight innings. Until last winter, MLB needed a year’s advance notice to modify the field rules without union approval, but the March lockout settlement created the commission. Cardinals pitcher Jack Flaherty, Rays pitcher Tyler Glasnow, Blue Jays infielder/outfielder Whit Merrifield and Giants outfielder Austin Slater represented the players Friday, a group that included Cubs infielder Ian Happ as an alternate. “It will be difficult for the children. … It’s a shame they didn’t take us more seriously,” Merrifield said. “It’s too right and they should amend it. And that’s exactly what we were trying to avoid.” Seattle President John Stanton headed the committee, which included CEO of St. Louis, Bill DeWitt Jr., San Francisco President Greg Johnson, Colorado CEO Dick Monfort, Toronto CEO Mark Shapiro and Boston President Tom Werner along with referee Bill Miller. “It’s hard to get consensus among the group of players to change the game,” Manfred said. “I think at the end of the day what we did here was give the fans the kind of game they want to see.”
AP Sports writer Stephen Hawkins contributed to this report.
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