By Jacob Herzberg
Imagine it is the bottom of the ninth, and the bases are loaded. You are sitting at the edge of your seat waiting for the pitch. But wait, the umpire motions that the pitcher took too long to pitch and the run comes in to score.
With baseball’s new rules the pitcher now only has 20 seconds to pitch the ball, and 25 if there is a runner on base. The batter also has to be in the box ready to hit with at least eight seconds remaining on the pitch clock.
This rule is also applied in college baseball. “I am fine with the clock, I work fast as a pitcher anyways so it really does not affect me,” said William Peace pitcher Ryan Manning.
Some pitchers are fine with the changes, but others are not. Baseball is known to be a game about rhythm and timing. Here is freshman Ethan Hummels opinion about this topic.
“I feel rushed,” said Hummel.
There are other new rules besides the timer in effect. In Major League baseball the bases have also been changed.
They are now much bigger in size making more room for the runner to touch the base.
Pick off rules have also been changed. A pitcher can now only throw over to a base three times and if they throw over a fourth they have to get the runner out. If they dont the runner gets a free base.
“I feel it makes it easier for runners to steal, they know that we can only throw over so many times before they can run,” said Gray Mitchell, a freshman pitcher at WPU.
There have been many fans who are against these new rules. Some say that it is ruining the pace of the game. On average a MLB game lasts about three and half hours.
With these new rules in place the pace of the game has been sped up with an average game of two and a half hours.
Michael Herzberg has been a baseball fan for his whole life. He has watched some of the greats play the game since he was a little kid.
“Baseball is meant to be a slow game. When big moments happen it makes the game so much more fun,” said Herzberg.
Others have opposite views. Some say that the game being faster makes it more exciting to watch.
For example, people don’t have to wait to see big moments such as home runs and stolen bases.
Speaking of stolen bases, it is much easier to do that now.
With the new pick off rule runners have a much better chance of stealing a base.
Baseball has been through so many changes throughout the years, but over this past year these rule changes have made everlasting impacts on the game.
Players now have to adjust to the new speed of the game as well as the new rules applying to pitchers and picking off runners.