Ahead of Opening Day, MLB rules are changing once again. Though they spent a lot of time fine tuning the new rules before they introduced them during Spring Training. A pitch clock was used in the minor leagues for a while before it debuted in the majors.
Nevertheless, the league, based on player input and more, has tweaked the rules with a week remaining until the season officially begins.
What new rules is MLB tweaking ahead of Opening Day?
Among the new rule tweaks are:
- No warmup pitches can be thrown by a pitcher with 30 seconds or less on the clock between innings.
- If a runner attempts a steal on a foul ball, they will be permitted to return to the base before the clock begins again.
- Hitters will be allowed to get set and must do so with at least eight seconds remaining, but pitchers cannot quick pitch them with this new MLB rules change.
Per USA Today, commissioner Rob Manfred said these "clarifications" were due to the things players asked for:
“The clarifications are important in my mind because they are responses to things players said.’’
These new rules may not be set in stone. While it's very likely that the pitch clock isn't going away, more modifications based on player input and regular season results may come in the future.
Other MLB rules likely won't change before Opening Day. The bigger bases are more than likely here to stay forever. Shift ban will remain in tact and could even get stricter as some teams found ways to circumvent the rules on it.