MLB Teams Trying To Get Around Baseball’s New Rules

Major League Baseball, despite its advanced age, is attempting to reinvent itself in the 2020's.

After decades of ballooning game times, endless pickoff attempts and the near eradication of the running game, the league stepped in forcefully in 2023. And for the most part, it worked.

The length of an average game in MLB dropped over 30 minutes from 2022-2023, with some games finishing just 10 to 15 minutes over two hours in length. Even the playoffs saw times diminish rapidly, eliminating the four-hour marathons that used to be commonplace. For the most part, players seemed to turn from grudging acceptance to positive feedback, and fans responded with skyrocketing attendance. 

But as the year wore on, some players began to realize they could manipulate the pitch clock in their favor, and game times started creeping back up a bit, leading to a league committee recommending that the pitch clock be shortened with runners on base.

READ: MLB Committee Proposes Changing The Pitch Clock For 2024

That proposal quickly turned into a new rule, shaving the clock from 20 seconds to 18 seconds with runners on base. Sure enough, players and teams are already doing their best to find ways around it.

"I think you’re seeing teams trying to figure out how to best manipulate the rules," Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said according to The Athletic.

But how?

The pitching clock winds down as Cleveland Guardians catcher Cam Gallagher gets set for the pitch during a spring training game between the Cleveland Guardians and Texas Rangers on February 26, 2023, at Goodyear Ballpark in Goodyear, AZ. (Photo by Brandon Sloter/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Teams Manipulating The Clock With Well-Timed Moves

Pitchers are starting to master the craft of disrupting a hitter's timing. Instead of just standing on the mound until the hitter is ready and delivering a pitch, pitchers are utilizing that time to keep them waiting.

"You’re trying to disrupt timing as a pitcher," Schumaker explained. "So you need to utilize that time on the mound and make the hitter wait. No hitter likes to wait 10 seconds just standing there. They want to get in the box, and they’re ready to hit."

The hitter has to be in the box and making eye contact with the pitcher with eight seconds remaining. Many pitchers will deliver when they're ready. But as comfort with the clock increases, some will start standing there, keeping them waiting. Mound visits, pitch com "issues," as well the two disengagement rule have also started to become more frequent to buy time for pitchers and throw hitters off schedule.

Stolen bases also jumped up in 2023, a trend that teams believe will continue this season. Pitchers have just two throw-overs before they have to pick the runner off. Using that to their advantage as well as the bigger bases could lead to a record number of stolen base attempts, according to several players and coaches.

Baseball teams are always looking for an advantage, anywhere they can get it. Manipulating the rules is the least surprising outcome.