Major League Baseball, over the objections of the MLB Players Association, has approved some new rules tweaks to combat some slippage in the pace of play initiatives that went into effect last year, namely the pitch clock.
The season began in April with a reduction in game to 2:36. Over the course of the season however players figured out ways to scratch for more time, gradually lengthening the time of game back out to 2:44. As a result, the time to deliver a pitch with runners on base has been reduced from 20 seconds to 18, and the number of mound visits reduced from five to four. A pitcher warming up prior to the start of an inning will also be required to face at least one batter.
Diamondbacks pitching strategist coach and former major leaguer Dan Haren's reaction on X was far from supportive of the move.
The MLBPA also sent out a strongly worded statement in protest and have been linking a supposed increase in pitcher injuries to the shortened recovery time. The public data available does not support that position. According to the website Spotrac.com, which keeps track of all player injuries by name, type of injury, days lost on the injured list and even dollars lost, pitcher injuries have remained fairly constant over the last several seasons. Tommy John surgery was up slightly from 2022, but lower than 2021 and 2019. The dollars lost to injury were higher last year, but that seems to have been driven by injury to some very high profile pitchers such as Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer, players whose infirmities can hardly be linked to the pitch clock.
Other rule changes include a widening of the runners lane to first base to be even with the infield grass. This is an ongoing story and further updates will provided, including reaction from Diamondbacks players and management when available.
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