New MLB Rules for 2023

[Make Angels Great Again]

4 hours ago, Revad said:

Below is a link, this part stood out to me:  “Major League Baseball was unwilling to meaningfully address the areas of concern that Players raised, and as a result, Players on the Competition Committee voted unanimously against the implementation of the rules covering defensive shifts and the use of a pitch timer.”

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/09/mlb-to-implement-pitch-clock-limit-defensive-shifts-beginning-in-2023.html

 

What the hell is a competition committee?

lmao

[Revad]

5 minutes ago, Make Angels Great Again said:

 

What the hell is a competition committee?

lmao

Not much competition on the competition committee.  From Anthony Franco at MLBTrade rumors:

 “The competition committee was established by mutual agreement between the league and Players Association during the most recent round of collective bargaining. It’s an 11-person panel designed to vote upon potential changes to the on-field playing rules. That committee is comprised of six league appointees, four MLB players and an umpire.”

 

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/09/competition-committee-to-vote-on-proposed-2023-rule-changes-on-friday.html#:~:text=The competition committee was established by mutual agreement,league appointees%2C four MLB players and an umpire.

[Inside Pitch]

1 hour ago, Chuckster70 said:

I'd like one of @Inside Pitch, @ettin, @Angelsjunky or @Docwaukee to pull some data on how the shift ban could help some of the Angels hitters in 2023 and beyond. 

The first player that comes to mind is no longer with the Halos and that's Kole Calhoun. That guy hit into the shift on the right side all the time. 

Nobody really..    Shohei gets shifted on the most and he has a wOBA of .370 vs the shift.  Moniak is getting worked the most by the shift of anyone on the team but he has a tiny sample size.   Stassi is under .270 and you have Walsh and Rengifo at .281 and .284, but those numbers are in line with their numbers with no shift

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

They didn't implement the pie rule like in the Atlantic league.

[AvsBroncosAngels05]

I think the part that should be concerning to fans is that with this current arrangement Manfred can make any changes he wants without any player approval. The committee is set up for 6 owners and 4 players. The umpire vote won't matter. In the name of "speeding things up" Manfred could introduce 2 strikes, 2 outs and a limit on foul balls to speed things up. Think that's far fetched? Did anyone think they would see a ghost runner at 2nd in extra innings a decade ago or a limit on pickoffs to first? I absolutely hated the idea of a pitch clock when it was first introduced. I still would rather not have it, but NCAA baseball put it in in 2020 and I'll admit for the most part it doesn't really affect the game that much. However, with that being said, there was one college game I watched where the batter got confused and stepped out of the box and the umpire in a moment of power called a strike on the batter and that was the 3rd strike and ended the inning. Having that clock affect the outcome like that is wrong imo and not baseball.  Can you imagine Angel Hernandez with this power? I hope I'm wrong, but I feel there are going to be some challenges with a pitch clock at the major leagues opposed to NCAA or the minors. Different kind of fans go to NCAA games vs MLB. Plus with HD tv and multiple camera angles, is the clock going to be overanalyzed by the announcers and opposing managers who feel the pitcher didn't get set in time? While today's changes may not seem like a big deal today, it's future ideas of this fucking idiot Manfred that worry me. As Manfred is a soulless asshole in a suit that hates baseball and really does not understand it at all from what I can tell from his unfortunate time in office. Just an out of touch prick and soulless slime. 

[Brandon]

Great. Now my Facebook feed is going to be filled with old whitey and his “purist” take the same way as old whitey and his opinion on the PGA vs. LIV.

[beatlesrule]

MLB to the shift:

[beatlesrule]

1 hour ago, Make Angels Great Again said:

 

What the hell is a competition committee?

lmao

[Slegnaac]

No guts to implement the robo ump calling balls and strikes.  

[Docwaukee]

5 hours ago, Duren, Duren said:

A slap in the face for the analytics proponents regarding the shift. It means now that more emphasis will be placed on pitchers to work harder on pull hitters rather than depending on overloaded fielders.

It also vindicated the effectiveness of the shift.

But I think the objective is to play baseball in a more traditional way. With the more symmetrical alignments of infielders. They used to call it 'shading' to the left or right when it was more restricted, but the lopsided positioning turned extreme. Maybe if more hitters tried to go the other way the shift would have been neutralized. But that means changing the natural swings for most players. And there would be far fewer home runs. 

Not so sure about the time clock. Baseball was unique in not having time as a factor at all. But attention spans are shorter, and life is more complex. But games also used to be much quicker too.

One of the factors in lengthening the game was the increasing use of analytics for literally every pitch and situation. More information processing and deliberation about what analytics say about that moment. So coaching, catcher/pitcher, fielding decisions constantly adding little bits more time. Notice how fielders check their little strategy cards after every pitch or batter?  Like pieces on a chess board. 

Tweaking the extra innings rule was a radical change. Now pitch clocks are another. Maybe if they just played more natural, spontaneous ball. And  games would take less time. Strategy is something that should be part of pre game planning, and not so micro managed during games. Good managers have all options internalized and mix gut feeling with knowledge. 

Anaytics have lengthened the game and turned it into a quasi board game. Maybe enjoyable for math needs, but a by product are all these transformations of a sport that was doing fine for more than a century before becoming radicalized. 

 

I only disagree with most of what you've stated.  

How is it a slap in the face of proponents of analytics?  I'm a big fan of analytics and also a big fan of getting rid of shifts.  The analytics folks will just find other metrics that aid in help their team win ballgames.  

I also like the time clock and I seriously doubt that the so called 'deliberation' because of analytics is any more impactful on game time than deliberating without that data.  In fact, I would contend it's the opposite.  The analytics take away the need to deliberate.  Good managers still miss stuff because of their gut just like analytics miss stuff because they don't have one.  But the goal is to keep managers, good or bad, from doing things like walking a guy with the bases loaded or turning your entire defense into a hot mess over the course of an entire season.  The latter of which is way more important because it indicative of just disregarding one of the tools in your toolbox.  I don't need that Phillip's head screwdriver to take out that screw.  I'll just keep using that pliers and the back end of a hammer.  

People that are 'anti-analytics' think that those who generally support and embrace it view it as the end all be all whereas most of those who actually embrace it and understand it recognize it's limitations and accept that there is nuance and humanity involved as well.  

[Stradling]

21 hours ago, failos said:

All of that sucks

Not at all. Maybe limiting throws to first but that’s it. 

[Taylor]

One step closer to Savannah Bananas ball.

[failos]

1 hour ago, Stradling said:

Not at all. Maybe limiting throws to first but that’s it. 

Yeah that one sucks the most 

[AngelsLakersFan]

I haven't seen anything on limiting throws over to first. What's the rule?

[AngelsLakersFan]

19 hours ago, Ace-Of-Diamonds said:

They didn't implement the pie rule like in the Atlantic league.

Of course they didn't. They opted to go with the shift limitation that showed zero impact on the results. Middle infielders will still continue to camp second base because that is most effective spot on the field.

Hard to imagine that Theo Epstein came up with this shit...

[AngelsLakersFan]

1 hour ago, failos said:

Yeah that one sucks the most 

I'm looking forward to the first walk-off 'illegal defense' call.

[Taylor]

6 minutes ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

I'm looking forward to the first walk-off 'illegal defense' call.

You just know it's going to happen to the Angels.

[AngelsLakersFan]

Just thinking about how teams will try and optimize defense now without the ability to put guys anywhere. I think we are going to see your shortstop and second basemen swap places with every batter based on pull side. The weak side defender is likely to stay right at the second base bag and then cheat over as the pitch is released. For extreme pull guys I could imagine teams considering pulling their opposite field outfielder or repositioning the pull side outfielder to play that short outfield / deep infield position that has become so effective.

[Slegnaac]

18 minutes ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

Just thinking about how teams will try and optimize defense now without the ability to put guys anywhere. I think we are going to see your shortstop and second basemen swap places with every batter based on pull side. The weak side defender is likely to stay right at the second base bag and then cheat over as the pitch is released. For extreme pull guys I could imagine teams considering pulling their opposite field outfielder or repositioning the pull side outfielder to play that short outfield / deep infield position that has become so effective.

If I read it correctly,  swapping places is not allowed unless there is a defensive substitution. 

[AngelsLakersFan]

2 minutes ago, Slegnaac said:

If I read it correctly,  swapping places is not allowed unless there is a defensive substitution. 

Hmm that's interesting

[AngelsLakersFan]

9 minutes ago, Slegnaac said:

If I read it correctly,  swapping places is not allowed unless there is a defensive substitution. 

How about between innings? 

Maybe you have 3 lefties in the next four batters so you put your SS on the left side to start an inning...

It would be pretty lame if you couldn't change defensive positions without taking someone out of the game.

[Slegnaac]

13 minutes ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

How about between innings? 

Maybe you have 3 lefties in the next four batters so you put your SS on the left side to start an inning...

It would be pretty lame if you couldn't change defensive positions without taking someone out of the game.

Good question.

My guess is no switching positions between innings unless there is a substitution.   But, if you sub an Outfielder, like Adell for Sierra, you could have Fletcher and Rengifo swap places.

[AngelsLakersFan]

2 minutes ago, Slegnaac said:

Good question.

My guess is no switching positions between innings unless there is a substitution.   But, if you sub an Outfielder, like Adell for Sierra, you could have Fletcher and Rengifo swap places.

It sounds like you can swap a second basemen and a first basemen, but not a first basemen and a third basemen. 

Im wondering if they defined the infield boundary? If not I could see a team increasing or decreasing their infield depth, much like the Angels drew a line on the right field wall.

[Anthony Tendon]

Manfraud is killing the game, one season at a time. 

[Stradling]

3 hours ago, Anthony Tendon said:

Manfraud is killing the game, one season at a time. 

So much of what’s wrong in baseball have nothing to do with him but he’s tasked with getting it back on track. And yes baseball is broken and needs fixing.