MLB will experiment with moving the pitching rubber back one foot this upcoming season in the Atlantic league,according to the Athletic. In addition, they will experiment. with something called the double hook. A team will have a DH only as long as their starting pitcher remains in the game. Remove the starter lose the DH.
The first one is designed to create more offense. The second one? I have no freaking idea what this is supposed to accomplish as far as making the game better or more interesting.
Championships since purchase by John Henry group: Red Sox 4 Yankees 1
The Red Sox are 8-1 in their last 9 postseason games against the Yankees.
Neither do I. It seems that MLB is experimenting with change for change sake.Originally Posted by Bellhorn04
I think the idea is to force teams to go with the starter longer..as soon as the starter comes out, DH goes away.
It seems like it might be more aimed at the use of an 'opener' and 'bullpen games'.
I can't imagine many managers would let this rule dictate when it's the right time to remove their starter.
Championships since purchase by John Henry group: Red Sox 4 Yankees 1
The Red Sox are 8-1 in their last 9 postseason games against the Yankees.
It's a stupid suggestion.
If MLB wants to help their product and businees, I will (again? think so) make a much better set of recommendations.
1. Adopt the DH everywhere. No one likes watching pitchers hit. Except the other team. While some NL minor league affiliates let pitchers hit, the only two major leagues in the world that do are the Pacific Coast League in Japan and the National League. No one else.
2. Want quicker games? Stop mucking around with pick off throws and pitching changes. EXISTING RULE 8.04, already in the MLB rulebook, states "When the bases are unoccupied, the pitcher shall deliver the ball to the batter within 12 seconds after he receives the ball. Each time the pitcher delays the game by violating this rule, the umpire shall call “Ball." The rule is already in place, and when pitchers use it, it works very well. Ever seen Mark Buerhle pitch? You used to be able to go to the Cell on his day for a 7:10 start, watch him throw 7 IP and give up 6 hit and 3 ER, stick around for the end of the game, and still be home in time to watch the 10 o'clock news. Why? He worked quickly and obeyed the rules that no one wants to enforce. R.A. Dickey was the same way.
3. Stop making gimmicky extra innings rules.
4. A game is 9 innings. Not 7. If you're charging customers for 9 innings, give them 9 innings.
5. Dump the 3 batter minimum rule. Want fewer pitching changes? Crazy thought - stop letting teams use all 40 players for a full month. If your manager needs more than 26 players to win a game, the problem is not the size of the bullpen. And Bruce Bochy taught us all that if you let him have a 17 man bullpen, he is going to use a 17 man bullpen to its fullest extent. And this guy managed for a lot of years and taught God knws how many coache this strategy. And now it is our job to stop those coaches should any opf them ever become MLB managers.
6. Bring back Sunday double headers. Every MLB team used to play 2 games every Sunday, but it went away because ownership hating selling one ticket for 2 games. But it has three big advantages. 1) The extra game per week will have a long term effect on pitching changes, as managers will have to manage for subsequent games in mind. (See change 5.) 2) It would eliminate November baseball. Everyone loves October baseball, but no one loves November baseball. 3) It would help ESPN with their Sunday night broadcasts, as rather than having to guess before the season which August games will be meaningful and therefore be worth watching, ESPN would have a full slate to pick and choose from. And it would also prevent teams screwing over fans by bumping their Sunday afternoon game to Sunday night to accommodate ESPN.
7. Just drop the absolutely ridiculous blackout rules. They help no one and manage to screw over both fans and MLB at the same time. And for many teams, they also screw over the owners as well.
Moving the mound back? Just stop. MLB cannot even figure out what problem they are solving any more. If moving the mound back is supposed to generate more offense, won't that also run counter to shortening the length of games? does this league even have a direction any more?
As much as I dislike opener and bullpen games, and even though there is a level of intrigue to this idea, it's a big fat NO for me.
I think the intent is to try to bring back the importance/relevance of the starting pitcher, and I agree with the intent. But what about games is which the starting pitcher legitimately does not have anything, and has to be removed in the first or second inning? Penalizing a team's offense in that situation doesn't make any sense.
That one, moving the mound back a foot, was proposed by the National Tommy John Surgery Assiciation.
RedSoxDirtdog 19
Calm down. I've been tamed.
Yes, I heard someone else comment on how this might not be the best thing for the health of pitchers.
Championships since purchase by John Henry group: Red Sox 4 Yankees 1
The Red Sox are 8-1 in their last 9 postseason games against the Yankees.
Maybe not, but it might help the health of a few hitters...
No comment on other measures like increased base size and limiting pickoff attempts at 1b?
No and no.
Also, no to moving the mound back a foot.
In fact, I'd be more inclined to raising the mound back to where it was back in the day (60s?) than I would be to lowering it or moving it back.
Great, less DH usage? Barf!!!!!
The bottom line is, they're gonna do what they're gonna do, and we have no say in the matter.
The only thing I'm wondering is which ideas belong to our old friend Theo.
Championships since purchase by John Henry group: Red Sox 4 Yankees 1
The Red Sox are 8-1 in their last 9 postseason games against the Yankees.
Maybe one of us needs to run an underground campaign for Commissioner. You know, start on Twitter and then move it to YouTube before taking on TikTok. Get some support from the public folks.
This approach would certainly work better if Commissioner was an elected position rather than a sinecure role decided by a bunch of self-appointed tax evading, caviar-slurping Newport residents with Italian sports cars. But it’s all we got..
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