Major League Baseball announced its long-anticipated rule changes on Wednesday, and there will be some major shifts in strategy as a result.
The league revealed a series of new rules, most notably a three-batter minimum for pitchers. All pitchers must pitch to at least three batters — resulting in either an out or the batter reaching base — unless the pitcher suffers an injury. This rule is designed to cut down on pitching changes and speed games up.
Other changes involve the active roster. MLB teams will now be allowed to carry 26 players on their active rosters at all times, with a maximum of 13 pitchers. In September, the active roster limit will be expanded to 28, with 14 of them allowed to be pitchers.
MLB will also now require teams to designate “two-way players” who will be allowed to pitch without counting against the team’s pitcher limit. These players must have at least 20 MLB innings pitched and 20 games started as a position player with at least three plate appearances in each game in either the current or previous season. This rule will essentially allow the Angels to carry Shohei Ohtani on their roster without having him count as a pitcher. The league has also limited the ability for position players to pitch with that rule. Position players will still be allowed to pitch in either extra innings or if their team is either ahead or behind by six runs or more.
Lastly, the time for managerial challenges to be requested has been reduced from 30 seconds to 20, and the injured list for pitchers has been returned back to 15 days instead of 10. Position players will still have a 10-day IL.
The major talking point will be the three-batter minimum, which has long been planned. It’s the latest in Rob Manfred’s efforts to speed up play, and more aggressive measures may be coming very soon. However, it’s bad news for left-handed relief specialists, who are going to have to adapt to facing right-handed hitters if they intend to carve out roles on MLB rosters.
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