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Mar 1, 2024 · In 2022, the average time between pitches with bases empty among qualified pitchers was 18.3 seconds (this includes time between batters). Due to the implementation of the pitch timer, this number decreased to 15.4 in 2023.
Oct 2, 2024 · How does the Pitch Clock rule affect timeouts in baseball? The Pitch Clock rule limits the amount of time pitchers have to deliver the ball, indirectly impacting the frequency and timing of timeouts, ensuring the game flows more efficiently.
- How Did Shifts Change Baseball?
- Don’T Hitters Want Fewer Ground Balls Anyway?
- How Noticeable Will The Change Be Next Season?
- Which Hitters Benefit The Most from The Ban on shifts?
- What’s The Story with Olson?
- What Does The Ban Mean For Second Base Play?
- What About Line drives?
- What Is The Workaround?
- What Teams Are Affected The most?
- What’s The Bottom Line?
To understand how the game will be played in 2023, first you must understand the arc and effect of defensive shifts. They have been around since Ted Williams, but only in the past four years did they become massively prevalent and effective. The big leap began when the use of shifts doubled from 2017 to ’19—largely because of the success of the Ast...
Yes, that was one effect of the proliferation of shifts. Batters saw hit probability on grounders reduced by the shift, so they tried to hit over the defensive alignment. They chased slug, not batting average, also because that is the reward system clubs use as compensation. “Slug is in the air” became the mantra of the Launch Angle revolution. Fro...
Not as noticeable as you think. Put those 2,065 ground-ball hits back into the game and you’re still talking about only about one more hit per game. Let’s use the past World Series as an example—the last one with shifts. The Philliesand Astros used a shift 38% of the time, slightly above the MLB regular-season rate of 34%. Batters combined to hit 3...
Seager and Olson will love the new rules. Seager hit .176 last season on hard-hit grounders—65 points below the major league average. He lost at least nine hits because of shifts. Turn those outs into hits and his batting average improves from .245 to .260. Nobody hit more hard-hit groundouts into the shift last season than Seager: Most Hard-Hit Gr...
He’s another canary. In his first three seasons, Olson saw 57% shifts and hit .355 on hard-hit grounders. In four seasons since, he has seen 86% shifts and hit .247 on hard-hit grounders. Over the past three seasons, nobody has grounded out hard into the shift more than Olson: Most Hard-Hit Groundouts Facing Shift, 2020–22 (90+ MPH)
The days are over of signing a free agent like Mike Moustakas for $64 million over four years to play second base. No longer can you hide a lack of range at second base. The Giants gave 138 starts at second base to Thairo Estrada and Wilmer Flores and wound up with the worst second base defense in the majors (–52 defensive runs saved). Estrada (–12...
Thankfully, no more of those scorched line drives into the shift that are outs because of the rover position. They didn’t happen often, but they were buzz killers. In five years, line-drive outs hit at least 100 mph and between 140 and 250 feet increasedfourfold, from 39 to 153. Your tough-luck line-drive leaders last year? Yep, Seager and Schwarbe...
Front offices are thinking of countermeasures right now. One idea: flex the off-side outfielder into the rover position to jam the pull side with outfielders against dead pull hitters such as Anthony Rizzo, Max Muncy or Schwarber. That seems too risky, though, because you are defending the single at the risk of an extra-base hit to the opposite fie...
The Dodgersand Astros ranked in the top three last season in most shifts (the Dodgers led with 53%) and lowest batting average on balls in play vs. the shift (the Astros led at .246). You would think the ban hurts whatever “intellectual advantage” they enjoyed from what they know about playing defense. But Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts told me t...
Expect to see changes, all of them for the better, but not drastic ones. Expect one more ground-ball hit per game. Expect batting average to go up. Expect more athletic plays at second base. Expect a few more doubles (remember, no more four-person outfields). Expect Seager and Olson to be grabbed quickly in your fantasy league draft. More MLB Cover...
Nov 16, 2023 · Are MLB's new rules putting the action back in baseball? The results will surprise you. The committee technically has 45 days to consider proposals, but extensions can be granted. Last season,...
Nov 14, 2022 · Remaking Rosters for a Changing Game. A pitch clock, a ban on infield shifts and the enlargement of bases could alter the value of some players, giving executives something new to exploit. Marlins...
- James Wagner
Sep 29, 2023 · With 97% of the season completed, batting average is up six points (.249) from 2022, batting average on balls in play is up seven points (.297) and on-base percentage is up eight points (.320).
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May 5, 2023 · Through the first five weeks of the regular season, Major League Baseball’s rules changes are working exactly as hoped. Game times are down, stolen bases are up, batting average has increased...
