NFL
By: Greg Rector
MLB Baseball is entering a new era for the 2023 season. Most know already I am a traditionalist when it comes to many things in sports. I have adapted to the three-point-driven basketball being dominant, I’ve also accepted that we are in a pass-happy era of football for someone who with both sports was always a defense-first player, coach, and fan these things have taken time to get used to, and to accept. I was also way back when against the designated hitter, never liked inter-league games either as I enjoyed the only times the two leagues met was at the All-Star game and of course the Fall Classic we call the World Series.
In 2023 the Major League Baseball season though will see many new rules and a fully integrated schedule between the leagues. One would think these changes would have a traditionalist like me completely up in arms. That’s not the case at all when it comes to the new era of baseball we’re about to embark on.
The Shift
The dreaded “shift” so many defenses have been employing at a very high rate, especially in the last decade has been done away with. I like this for the simple reason I no longer have to scream at today’s players for having no ability to take pitches the other way to keep an inning going anymore. Since hitters have become so focused on hitting for power the art of going the other way was lost. Overall though this should help the offense as what used to be base hits in the good old days return instead of seeing the batters thrown out by extra fielders on their preferred side to hit to. The traditionalist in me likes the idea of seeing batting averages that aren’t hovering at the .230 to .250 range make a return.
The Clocks
Batters will need to be ready to swing with 8 seconds left on the pitch clock and when no one is on base pitchers will have 15 seconds between pitches, while when runners are on base it will be 20 seconds. This is the change so many have desired and the one I like the most as well. When this rule was adopted in the minor leagues’ games went from 3 hours on average down to 2 hours and 39 minutes on average. Long given as a reason for declining interest games being played faster may help increase viewership, especially with younger fans. That’s the biggest reason for the change. We’ll see over time if it helps. I believe that it will. So far in the early spring training games the pitchers seem to be adapting well to the change, but hitters are not as fast to catch on to the new speed.
Pickoffs
No more endless throws over to first base which drives fans crazy and no more so than when you know the runner on first base is not a threat to steal. Now pitchers can only step off, fake a pickoff or make an actual pickoff attempt twice per batter. Another way to speed up the game. This should also help see a bit more base stealing happen. Baseball has been concerned with the decrease in activity on the base paths for quite a while. Since we’re not in the good old days of Ricky Henderson stealing bases anything that sees one of the more exciting aspects of the game return is a good thing.
New Base Size
Baseball will see an 18″ base in 2023 three inches larger than we’ve all been accustomed to. This will serve a few purposes. The first is to hopefully reduce injuries, especially at first base. When the numbers from the minor leagues came in there did seem to be an overall reduction of injuries at the bases. The second purpose again comes into play for base stealing. Three fewer inches may not seem like much but all those close plays may now favor the batters and base stealers. Another way to hopefully increase offense in the game.
Overall
Baseball should see more offense and reduce the overall time it takes to play the games. If both things happen that is only a huge positive for a sport that has for the most been so reluctant to keep up with the times. For me, these changes had to happen. If Major League Baseball didn’t at least try to change the pace of play and the other parts I just feel they would have fallen further behind as one of the 4 major sports in popularity.
As always find me on Twitter @GregsCowboys
