New MLB Rules in 2026

2. Box Enforcement for Base Coaches

First- and third-base coaches have long had a tendency to roam outside of the designated box area near the bag. Umpires rarely enforced the parameters.

However, that will change in 2026, as coaches must remain within the lines of the box while the pitcher is on the rubber and umpires have been instructed to more strongly keep tabs.

The goal is to prohibit base coaches from going down the line toward home plate where they could more easily steal signals or identify a pitchers’ grip. If a coach is deemed to have exited the box, he will suffer a violation. A second can result in his ejection.

3. Intentional Obstruction

Baserunners are no longer allowed to initiate contact with a fielder in hopes of drawing an obstruction call.

Umpires can make a judgment call, and if the runner goes out of his way to contact a fielder who doesn’t have the ball, he will be ruled out, and all other runners must return to the base they vacated.

4. No More Ball-and-Strike Signals at Home

While not a rule change, per se, fans watching MLB games on television will no longer be shown whether a pitch was a ball or strike.

The strike zone will still be shown on screens, but while previously a marker was used to identify whether a particular pitch was a ball or strike, that identifying marker will no longer be present.

This probably won't cause a significant change. Most fans simply noticed the location of the ball marker inside or outside of the strike-zone box.

Many broadcasts, however, colored the ball-marker in when it was a strike and left it blank when it was a ball. SNY, which broadcasts New York Mets games, left it blank for all pitches already, ESPN's Jeff Passan pointed out.

“I believe that it’s just going to be more that the graphic that comes off on the screen is not going to indicate whether it’s in the supposed strike zone or the strike zone that’s marked on TV,” Passan said.