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New Rules!?
There are 3 new rules in the MLB this year. The pitch clock, a ban on defensive shifts, and larger bases.
The pitch clock gives the pitcher 15 seconds to pitch the ball with no runners, and 20 with them on base. If the pitcher can't get it off in time, it is an automatic ball, and if the batter isn't ready on time it's an automatic strike.
The bases have increased 3 square inches! Making it much easier for runners on the base path, which will boost steals.
The rule on shifting prevents infielders from moving to different parts of the field after the start of the inning.
In a recent spring training game, the Phillies beat the Yankees 7-4. The game was only 2 hours and 34 minutes long! That's insane. The average game in 2022 lasted roughly 3 hours. That is a massive drop in time, 30 minutes! All do to the pitch clock.
"It was very fast," Josh Harrison, Phillies second baseman says. "My first at bat, the first 2 pitches; very fast. I took the first, swung at the second and was like, man, that pitch was kind of quick. I even called time before the next pitch. You only get one chance to call time. Well, I got 2 strikes in the first 2 pitches so let me call time and try to slow it down a little bit. Pitchers have a lot of control with the time. There where a couple pitches here where it felt like the ball was held a little bit. So you've got to chose your one [timeout] wisely.
"I think it's something that's going to be an adjustment for a lot of us because there's still, I don't want to say gray area, but there's still things we didn't get to see during live batting practices or BPs for short, like fouling a ball off the catcher's face mask," he said. "We're up there ready to hit but we don't realize sometimes they have a malfunction."
"You're gonna have some things within reason like a long foul ball, outfielder just ran. In live BP, we're back in the box, but it's like, oh we have to wait on this guy. ... All things that I'm not worried about, I'm just going to go out there and compete and as you continue to get into games, you'll get that feel for the timing of how much time in between pitches.
"Even though it felt quick, I still felt like the time of game, 17 hits and it was still two hours. You've gotta get in there and compete. Sometimes it can rush you, but that's the game within the game that everybody's gotta get used to."
Quotes found on NBC.com
But the rule seems to be adopted after a longer stay with the change.
Jack Cave, a triple A player who started in the spring training is already accustomed to it because the minor leagues adopted it last year, he said "I got accustomed to it. I think it sucks at times, honestly, but at the same time, the game's going to go by quicker, a little more action," he said. "But it doesn't really affect me, I think it's going to affect the pitchers more, in my opinion, maybe some of the guys that are real slow in the box. But I feel like you can foul a pitch off ... like today, I didn't have to rush or anything and still felt like I had plenty of time in between pitches."
Jack Cave, Phillies #44 left fielder
Zack Wheeler, Phillies SP
On the other hand, Zack Wheeler, Phillies ace pitcher despises the new pitch clock.
"I think it just messes with the game too much," Wheeler said outside the Phillies' clubhouse at BayCare Ballpark. "I think maybe there can be a pitch clock but not so quick. It could stop the really long guys who drag the game, but when you're rushing guys that normally aren't slow, I think it messes with the game too much."
"Imagine a pitch clock when you're trying to make the most important pitches in the playoffs, having something count down on you like this," he said. "In Triple A, in the minor leagues, they're playing for stuff but they aren't playing for what we're playing for up here. It just adds something to it that isn't part of the game."
But it hasn't stopped him from being great.
His first pitch was 97 MPH. Last year he averaged only 94.5 on his pitch. This moment is really important for the star because of problems with arm fatigue in the Phillies playoff run last year.
"I knew the velo was there during BPs, I knew it might tick up a little bit during the games," Wheeler said.
The rules will make big changes to the flow of the season and it will be exciting to see. So stick around for a crazy season this year!
Note from Journalist: Thank you for reading my first article!
Written by Himothy March 2023
Written by Himothy March 2023
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