To really increase the pace of the game the pitcher should throw 3 baseballs at once, and the batter needs to spin like a helicopter in the batting box.

Pitch clock is severely needed. Not only for pitchers who take a long time on the rubber, but also for batters who feel the need to step out and readjust everything between pitches. Keep the pace of the game up. I’m ambivalent about the shift rules, I hope it’ll provide some more action but also don’t like that a strategy was removed. I wish they would’ve just kept it so infielders would have to be on the dirt, not necessarily 2 to each side

I saw several minor league games with the pitch clock. One game lasted less than two hours. It really helped the pitchers get into a rhythm and made them more effective.

as someone who has had a love / hate relationship with baseball over the years i think the pitch clock was a long time coming! worst thing about baseball is all the dicking around between pitches and batters! is there another sport where the broadcast is constantly showing the benches / dugouts?? no its because they have so much time to kill during a game!

You know what would be really, really, REALLY great? Make it more affordable to attend a baseball game.

I could be in the minority but idc, I love this game and I want to see it adapted in this new era, if these changes bring more action and/or shortens games I’m cool with it. I think the fact minor league games are, on average, almost a half an hour shorter kinda proves the point

No clocks in baseball. And no free runners in extra innings, that's not baseball!

They needed to go with an automated strike zone.

Pitch clock is a must. And replace Angel Hernandez with a robot umpire (I hear c-3PO is looking for work)

Badly needed. The game needs it.

Pitch clock is definitely needed. Glad to see they are doing it in MLB. There will be an adjustment period for both pitchers and batters, with lots of enforcement confusion, and players calling for time outs more frequently. But in a few years, it should be smoothed out. Wouldn't it be great to see games averaging 2:30? With the shift, it might be a nice refinement to allow shifting a certain number of times per game (say, on 6-8 plate appearances per game per team).

At first I didn’t like the pitch clock but now I’m liking the idea. It makes the game a lot faster. Hopefully this will happen next year. Cause I’m tired of seeing the game slow way TOO MUCH.

Glad to see Ibanez get work in media. Well deserved. Ibanez's 2012 late season/post season performance was one of the greatest and most exciting things I ever saw. Great player happy to see him in media.

Pitch clock? It's about time. Can't wait for 2023 season and a pitch clock.

I'm done. After decades of being a baseball fan, I give up, b/c this is no longer baseball. You've chosen to morph this game into something unrecognizable. You changed the face of the game by disallowing shifts, so complaining players, such as Joey Gallo, who should be in the minor leagues for their inability to overcome the defense other teams throw at them, can have an easier time of doing what's supposed to be the most difficult task in all of sport, hitting a round ball w/ a round bat. If the greats were able to do it w/out a problem, you don't change the game for the players who are barely Major League-caliber. You should choose a new name for this sport, b/c it's no longer baseball. And, throw out the record book, b/c you'll have a start a new one for whatever this sport is.

Everything is cool except for the shift rules. Imagine Game 7 of the World Series and a game saving strikeout is reversed because the 2nd baseball had 1 foot on the outfield grass. Hey MLB it's called defense.

The wording on that rule is interesting as far as positioning. It says that they have to be in certain spots before the pitch is thrown. It would be funny to see 2B right on the edge and as soon as the ball is released he sprints to the left side of the field lol

I'm one that thinks that the shift shouldn't be banned. I know that it will provide more offense to the league but I find that it's the batters fault for not being discipled enough to go the opposite way with the ball or lay down a bunt to take advantage of what the defense gives you. and removing the shift only rewards incompetent on the offense side. this will be the equivalent to the helmet to helmet rule in the NFL. when the kid decides to take his ball home with him because he's not getting his way then let him and play with another ball.

Players cant learn to hit the ball the other way so they ban a defensive strategy, its stupid. Here's a change for a place of play, stop or shorten commercial breaks.

I agree with everything except for the shifts, and I don't know if playoff games are still the best of 7, but they need to stay the best of 7.

Maybe you can stop showing those annoying split screen commercials between pitches too.

The shift is a strategy. It is calculated, has risks, and has a way to counteract if the hitters are good enough. To me, making antistrategy rules just limits the variety in the game. Part of the fun is trying to find new ways to give your team an edge while balancing any potential drawbacks the new methods might create. They say it will allow for more athletic showcasing. But we want it to be a mental game as well as a physical game.

Now implement an automated SZ. Tired of umps giving pitchers extra room. The average fastball continues to increase year over year while the league batting average continues to decrease. Its hard to hit a baseball as it is. And pitchers are simply too good. They already they innate advantage being afforded 4 balls to just 3 strikes, they don’t need any extra room. Make them come over the plate and watch the offense explode. Nobody wants 4 hour 2-1 final score “slugfests.”

Shifting was not really strategy as once it was clear what it did then any team that didn't shift against a left handed batter would be literally mismanaged to an extreme degree. Yes a player could try to hit the other way but keep in mind the pitcher changes the pitches he throws to exclusively make that harder. Bunting is harder than most people make it out. Also riskier as a 2 strike foul while bunting is an automatic out. Love the new shift rules.

More balls in play = longer games. Rob Manfred needs to decide what he wants

I went to alot of Memphis redbirds games this year and the pitch clock is great. The pace is so much better.

those infield shift restrictions are clown rules, bruh. if a team wants to place every infielder at one bag, why stop them? let the batter take advantage of the situation. every team makes decisions that they feel gives them the best chance at an out or win, so they're not doing it to try to sabotage themselves.

I think a lot of people are missing the point of restricting the shift - it’s to move baseball away from the Three True Outcomes(walks, strikeouts, home runs). Most baseball fans would agree that the sport is more exciting with more balls in play, instead of everyone swinging for the fences. A lot of fans find batting styles like Joey Gallo’s boring, but the thing is, the shift is one of the reasons why there are so many Joey Gallos in baseball right now. Pitching today is better than it has ever been, and paired with the shift, it is harder to get a base hit than it’s ever been. People have said, “why don’t the batters try hitting to the opposite field?”, but going oppo against 100 mph pitches is NOT easy as you think. It’s also not as efficient as pull hitting, since you can’t hit for as much power. With the advent of sabermetrics, players have figured out that in today’s baseball, just going for the long ball manufactures more runs than trying to go the opposite way. With the shift restricted, players don’t always have to swing for the fences anymore. Well-hit line drives won’t go into the shift and turn into outs, they’ll just become base hits. Hitters don’t have to swing the bat as hard as they can - they can just focus on making good contact with the ball.

Glad to see them picking up the pace of play. There's too much dicking around with hitters and pitchers between pitches which bogs the games down. Get in the box and get on the rubber and let's play ball.

these rules do little to fix the real problem with baseball: blind umpires. Give the ump an electronic assist so that he knows the strike zone and require Angel Hernandez to get an eye exam every year.

Harold Reynolds claiming that we don't currently see great defensive plays because of the shift might be the stupidest thing he's ever said, and that's saying something. He's just toeing the MLB line.

Pitch clock is stupid. Needs to go. Haven’t talked to a single fan who doesn’t hate it.

bigger bases and pitch clock im very happy for, safety and pace of play is important i dont really understand the defensive shift enough to know if its good or bad, i can see theres both pros and cons to it but overall id say these are good changes! :D

If you want more offense, why not start each half inning with a runner on third and ban all pickoff attempts. Better yet, you could rid of the defense altogether and just do home run derby! 🙄

One of the justifications for banning the shift s to "counteract the growing trend of 4-man outfields." Okay, but WHY? If teams think four outfielders are better than four infielders, shouldn't that be up to them? Why should the league be telling teams how they use their fielders? The fact that there are four infielders and three outfielders is a matter of tradition. The shortstop originally didn't play near second, and often didn't play in the infield. It was found over time that IN GENERAL, three outfielders was the best alignment. But now that they've found that's not ALWAYS the case, that sometimes it's best to have four outfielders, they're going to enforce the traditional way, just because. It's very silly.

I swear Rob Manfred has ruined baseball every year he’s been the commissioner

I hate the shift bans. Instead of telling guys like Joey Gallo to get better at hitting, MLB is just making the game easier for him. MLB wants to see more balls in play, but it's just telling all these power hitters to keep swinging for the fences and maybe you'll get a few more singles in the process.

I think a certain amount of shifts per game would be cool

Love all the new rule changes. Hopefully we see some baseball like it was in the 70s to the mid-90s. Low pitch counts, balls in play, fielders having to range far to dive for balls, stolen bases rewarding aggressive play styles, and (most of all) rewarding players who hit line drives rather than trying to hit everything for a home run.

I've watched a couple of games from the 1968 ws on youtube recently, and they were incredibly entertaining, in part because all of the players were essentially following many of these new rules. Scouting was more limited so shifts seemed to just be based on the side of the batter, and pitchers (like Bob Gibson) either preferred faster pitching cadences or pitched faster because that was just the norm. Pace of play was great, more infield hits, more action, etc... even with the insane pitching that took place in the late 60's.

Now we just need an automated strike zone

I am fine with the shift rule. Infielders shouldn't be allowed to go into shallow outfield.

Going to help hitters who can hit to all fields. Bring back the steal. Reward infielder range. Speed up the game. Reduce strikeouts, and pick off attempts. The two unsuccessful pickoff rule will have a bigger effect than the others. I’m onboard.

If you don’t want the shift that’s fine but infielders should be allowed on the grass

I want a day at the ballpark, not 90 minutes. I'm not driving 2 hours, each way, paying 50 bucks to park, 30 bucks for a beer and a hotdog, and then drive 2 hours home while fighting traffic, all for a 90 minute game where we have to limit shifts because hitters can't go the other way or drop a bunt. But I'm a crotchety old lifelong fan, so who cares.

Now its more pressure on the pitcher instead of taking 24hrs to throw a single pitch. 😂

I don't care about the pitch clock nor the base size. What I really wanted was to get rid of the shift, more balls in play is what we need, it's just too easy now, fielders sometimes don't even have to move.

bro shifting is a part of the game you cant just stand in one spot

NO REST = less hits, less HRS and slower pitching speeds

i.e. stand where your position says you're supposed to stand. It's not like they can't move left or right, but for real the 2 on each side rule was necessary

The shift rules are ridiculous. Want to eliminate the shift? Start using the entire field and teams will stop shifting.

MLB is always so concerned about pace of play, so wouldn't shift restrictions lead to more base hits and thus, longer games?

This should make baseball exciting 😆

So infielders shouldn't be allowed to play in when they want to cut down a runner at the plate, right? And the corners shouldn't be allowed to play in when they're expecting a bunt, right? And they shouldn't be able to guard the lines late in the game, right? Because that would be the infielders lining up in a strategically optimal position. Can't have that now can we?

All of these rule changes are needed to keep baseball from becoming totally unwatchable.

The clock is the best change so far. We have been losing new fans to baseball for a long time. Younger people are bored by baseball and speeding up the game will not only bring more new fans but it will reinvigorate existing fans.

I don't necessarily care for the defensive shift rule change, but the larger bases and pitch clock are going to make baseball so much more watchable for fans

Why bother with these new rules? If I was a batter seeing these defensive shifts, I would try my hardest to cross them up and hit the ball in those gaps in the defence. I think a more serious issue are the umpires behind the plate with inconsistent strike calls on balls clearly outside of the strike zone and not calling strikes on balls on the edges.

Nowadays batters have limited batting skill and can only pull hit. MLB: CLEARLY the defenders are responsible for this.

there’s no time in baseball, players were finally adapting to the shifts. they are just going to make the game less like baseball. all the players voted against all these things, that shows something.

This is stupid ManFraud is trying to kill baseball IF IT AIN'T BROKE DON'T FIX IT !!!!!😡

If there is less baseball, shouldn't the prices go down?

In that comparison clip, the batter was way more of an issue than the pitcher was. Also, even if they do end up being good decisions, I don't think the reasoning behind them could be any more stupid. "We want to speed up the game. Also we want more offense."

Bud Selig had his share of mistakes as commissioner of baseball. But at least he did not forcefully use his power to radically change the actual rules of the game itself like what is going on now.

Major L for baseball

These rule changes for the most part will push even more fans away from the sport. Yes, I agree the shift looks extremely retarded, but a great cure for that is to teach potential players to hit the ball to all fields, there was one to time in the NBA when all anyone wanted to do was dunk the basketball because they couldn’t hit a jumpshot, now all they do in the NBA is hit nothing but three-pointers. If MLB was even remotely interested in picking up the pace of the game, the solution is extremely simple: call a rule book strike zone, an average at bat will last less than 30 seconds if that long

stupid idea. hitters should learn to hit better, a free bunt is essentially a trip to first.

If people want faster games they should go play video games or something. Pitchers should be allowed to take their time. The pace of baseball is one of the things that makes it a strategic, unique, anticipatory game. The athleticism of players is fully on display and I find it a bit insulting to claim otherwise. The shift is a chess move in baseball and I find it strange that strategy is being dictated here. I am all for player safety and the base size is a change that seems to be liked among players. I seem to be in the minority here, but I foresee more injuries rushing players to make a wonderfully slower game needlessly faster.

The MLPA just voted against these rule changes I thought

I didn't know how I felt about all this, but after seeing everything demonstrated, I have to say I love it. I think these are POSITIVE changes. Not like the NFL where things are needlessly changed.

I’m disappointed that hitting the other way seems to be a lost art, such that instead of learning to “keep your eye clear and hit ‘em where they ain’t” you force the defense to play more dumbly so the hitters have a chance. Hitters like Edgar would have eaten these shifting defenses alive. And the shift is a very old technique - used against Ted Williams in the 50s, I believe. (Didn’t seem to slow down the Splendid Splinter any.) But baseball has always tinkered with its rules, so I can’t get too much in an uproar here. Changing the distance to the mound, the size of the strike zone, the height of the mound, the types of pitches permitted … bah. The game has already changed beyond what the NY Knickerbockers played way back when, no big deal.

This is(was) a game of skill and tactics, now just skill. I HATE IT. Let me spend my money on my ticket and enjoy the atmosphere as long as I can. Batters today are going for the bomb. They focus on contact and base hits it’ll get more exciting. It’s almost like watching a basketball game where all they try to shoot is 3’s. Guess I’ll just have to deal with it lol.

Welp, might as well fine batters when they swing on a 3-0 count, sounds dumb, but so is the commissioner.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. People cite the fact that a World Series game back in 1960 only took 2 hours and twenty minutes, or something like that. Nowadays i's up to 3 and a half to four hours a game. Well, guess what. Back in 1960 just how many commercials did they back then? About the length of time to get off the field and up to bat. Nowadays it's five to ten minutes of commercials!!! And that's always at the half inning. That's about an hour to an hour and a half of commercials per game isn't it? Why punish the game when it's the networks with their blasted commercials all the time? Commercial time out for the viewing audience, even in the NCAA basketball games they have now.

I am really excited for the pitch clock.😀

The games are also more of a big difference in the mlb they needore time to pitch geez

Baseball has been unwatchable for years... Tons of K's, no movement on the bases, 1 thru 9 swinging for the fences, and on and on... The changes will no material effect in time saved, and will not "bring fans back" I haven't watched a 9-inning game in a decade plus A 5-to-8-minute highlight on YT shows all the relevant action

Grew up playing baseball never watched mlb because it was so slow at age 30 I’m now watching mlb with the new rules

Banning the shift is the MLB equivalent of the NFL telling defensive coordinators that they cannot employ a nickel package on passing downs. NFL offenses adapted. Why can't MLB hitters do the same thing?

*pitch thrown* Batter steps out, adjusts the left glove strap, adjusts the right glove strap, adjusts helmet, spits, adjusts helmet again after spiting, now he’s gotta adjust his gloves again since they moved around when he adjusted his helmet, looks down at bat, helmet moved when did that so adjusts it again….now he steps back into the box. Not much of an exaggeration cuz I’ve seen some players go through all that every few pitches. I am all for a clock that keeps the pace up.

One more rule change: No stadium announcer can tell the fans to "Makes Some Noise". Tell all announcers to stop telling us what to do and just shut up.

I’m happy that batters won’t step out as much but I feel that it’s okay for pitchers to take their time since they’re the ones throwing 90+ MPH sometimes you need to take a good 30 sec breather. Other than that it’s good for the game

defensive shift restrictions are stupid. Let the fielders play where they want.

Even though Harold only played a year in Baltimore, I still love that guy as an oriole.

How can so many people support eliminating shifts AKA supporting bad/predictable hitters?! Hitters should adapt and stop being so one-dimensional!

Banning the shift is unnecessary and embarrassing. MLB is codifying an idiotic unwritten rule here. Players can overcome the shift with a simple bunt, but it’s regarded as poor form to do so. Boo hoo, you tried to gain an advantage defensively and the offense countered it. This is the MLB’s version of the NHL’s old two-line pass rule. It’s restrictive with no improvement to the game. MLB wants to “showcase athleticism”… well we’d really like hitters to showcase that they can push the ball the opposite field more than once in a thousand plate appearances. DH, no shift, automatic intentional walks… baby’s first baseball game.

Rob Manfred has to go!! He is ruining this sport! When I pay top dollar to see a MLB game, I want to see a legit baseball game whether it's more than 3 hours or not! That's real baseball! Changing this extra innings rules, 4 finger international walk rule, and all the other nonsense rules are ruining my and many others desire to watch, or pay to go to the games! MLB has finished itself off. Next on their ridiculous agenda....no more constant adjustment of batting glove velcro straps while up to bat....no more then 5 ft from base while on base in a base steal situation...max 2 trips to the mound by pitching coach or manager during game ...no bat flips...no more benching clearing under any circumstances...automatic ejection if you question an umpires called pitch...no more base running substitutions...and finally...no more $1 hot dog days. Now back to the tennis.....

Massive L

The defense shifts because there are a lot of bad hitters in the major leagues. Keith Hernandez first opened my eyes to this but back in my childhood, guys could hit to all fields. Now, most batters are just trying to swing as hard as they can because slugging is a big part of their pay. Combine that with pitchers who now throw 95+ mph and you are going to get poor hitters. IF they hit the ball, it will go a long way. But the fact strike outs are up compared to the 90's shows the only strategy played out in baseball now is Earl Weaver - a three run homer and good pitching. Gone are the days of the St. Louis Cardinals stealing bases or guys actually bunting for hits.

Stop changing the game.

Larger bases and pitch clock are great, but eliminating shifts is idiotic to me. Essentially, you're telling players that they can't stand where they think the ball will be hit. I'm sorry but that's a stupid solution to increase hitting. If hitters can't hit a wide open hole on one side of the field, then you need to work on hitting, not force the other side to move so you can get a cheap hit.

Get rid of the pitch clock I get the reason, but its not good for the game.

Question; would picking off base runners be affected by the larger base?

I love the new pitch clock being implemented but I wish they would leave the shift alone. It’s actually really interesting to watch how the defense changes depending on who’s up to hit and if there are runners on base

Question regarding pitch clock with runners on, wouldn't that give a stealer an advantage to time his jump? Please correct me if I'm wrong.

About damn time, the shift is infuriating and explains the dramatic decrease in pitcher ERA over the last several years. These guys are getting paid anywhere from 5,000-218,000 for a game on average ( if they play all 160) and having them stand in the optimal spot before the pitcher starts to a particular batter is astonishingly bad for the game.

pitch clock is nice, games that started in the afternoon would still be going by the time i was going to bed,

Telling the defense where they have to stand is some seven-year-old T-ball nonsense. Stop.

Bases fine, but everything else is not needed sorry. If you don’t like baseball and want to watch something quickly then go watch something else.

I don't care as long as they dont add robo plate umps. Thats the only thing I think would ruin actual important intricacies and takes a lot out of a catchers game.