MLB rule changes to add action to games by raising the strike zone and eliminating intentional walks are sure to upset baseball purists, but would have to be okayed quickly by the players themselves to affect the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball proposed the changes and is asking the players’ union to “usher in changes” to raise the strike zone and get rid of intentional walks, with hopes of eliminating “dead time” throughout a game, according to Yardbarker.
The players are being asked to raise the “lower part of the strike zone to the top of the hitter’s knees.”
The strike zone change has been sparked by concern over the large amount of walks and strikeouts over the course of a game, which ultimately slows the pace down, said the New York Post.
The league believes raising the strike zone would keep more balls in play and keep more fans on the edges of their seats.
“Data shows that umpires have been increasingly calling strikes on so many pitches below the knees that, if umpires enforce the redefined strike zone, it would effectively raise the zone by an estimated 2 inches,” said ESPN’s Jayson Stark, per Yardbarker.
If the players’ union agrees to make changes to the intentional walk rule, that would stop pitchers from being able to throw four “soft pitches” outside of the strike zone, a tactic which has been used on some of the league’s greatest hitters over the years.
The proposal comes weeks after MLB players and owners agreed on a new collective bargaining agreement in December, according to SB Nation. The collective bargaining agreement has no impact on rule changes.
Though the rule change can be approved at any point in the year, it can’t be implemented during a season. It would have to be approved this off-season to go into effect by the start of the 2017 regular season.
Because spring training is just days away for pitchers and catchers, decisions will have to be made soon.
Other rule changes have been proposed in the past, including “installing pitch clocks, limiting the number of catcher trips to the mound, and limiting the number of pitching changes that a team can make per inning,” SB Nation noted, but no agreements were made in those cases.
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