MLB Rule Changes Kickstart The Big Revival Of America’s Past Time
Updated: Jun 29, 2023
Baseball fans! Calling all Baseball fans! It’s back! The MLB finally did something right with these rule changes; if you didn’t know, there is now a 15-second pitch clock for pitchers and hitters to work on; if it is violated, it is a ball for the pitcher and a strike for the batter.
They have eliminated the infield shift, allowing for more contact and base hits. Finally, they increased the base size, which was supposed to increase base running; all of these are to bring the action back to Baseball.
Let’s be honest over the last five years, with analytics and all these stat-based abbreviations, it has become a home-run -or-strike-out mathematic equation rather than a rarity of concentration and discipline that we have lived off of for over 100 years.
Some 2022 Vs. 2023 MLB Statistics
In the same sample size, a game last season, on average, would be around three hours and 15 minutes with a batting average of .230. However, this year’s games are averaging two hours and 43 minutes with a batting average of .245. This is because the games are a sizable amount shorter, much closer to the length of the other professional sports, and there is more hitting for contact instead of just power.
More people are on base, leading to more stealing; on opening day alone, 21-23 bases were stolen successfully, as opposed to the last opening day, where 5-9 were successful. It was the most stolen bases in a single day since 1907.
Hits are up from 5.3 per hour last year to 6.1, which doesn’t sound like a significant jump, but with how many players are playing, that is a pretty substantial move on average.
The league had seemed lost coming out of the covid year without making any significant adjustments to its model, but after two more declining years, they have made this change, and the action is sky-high. There are more hits, stealing & fielding in the first five days of this season than in the past five seasons’ opening five.
These Changes Take Baseball Back From The Nerds
Baseball is more than a player’s W.A.R., ExpectedOPS, launch angle, and exit velocity; All that stuff is excellent when used as a tool, not a clutch. Unfortunately, too many of these owners watched Moneyball and thought they could do the same thing, but why even play the game if we are going to count numbers? We could do that by ourselves.
Making these types of changes screws up the algorithm for these stat junkies; they are all running around with their heads cut off with these moves, and it brought the vibrancy back to Baseball. It’s not supposed to be cold and calculated, strategic, but not to the robotic point it reached. The games were too long. It was either a home run or a strikeout, which gets tedious when the outcome feels plugged in.
172 Million Minutes Spent Watching Baseball This Opening Day
The MLB.TV is reporting a record high in streaming numbers over the first full day of Baseball. This is up 42% from last year’s number of 121 million. This is massive news for the MLB and precisely what must be revived. No one wants Baseball to fade away, and finally, the people with the power to change have.
WATCH MORE BASEBALL! BBBB2023
I am ranting about nerds and statistics ruining Baseball, but I’m using many numbers to explain how different it is. If you’d don’t believe me throw on a game, and it will be much more entertaining.
Bring Baseball Back 2023!
The pitch clock excites the whole process because the pressure gets on as the second count is down. If the NBA didn’t have a shot clock, how amusing would that be? I would say slightly because there aren’t stakes. This adds stakes and a realistic pace of play.
Pressure causes mistakes, and that’s how some of the game’s most significant moments are made. Shoutout to the Orioles for dropping that pop-up and Duvall for cranking the next pitch to the Monster. If the season continues with the type of play we saw during the opening weekend, Baseball should bounce back in a big way.
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