There could be some good news for those who may consider baseball a “slow sport.”
According to ESPN’s Jayson Stark, Major League Baseball made formal proposals to the players’ union to “usher in changes.” Those changes, for starters, could result in this being the year baseball “raises the strike zone and does away with the practice of intentional walks.”
At the moment, that is all it is — a proposal. Stark explained this cannot be implemented without the approval of the Major League Baseball Players Association. Also, the decision needs to be made “sooner rather than later,” a source told Stark, since spring training games are just around the corner.
When it comes to the strike zone aspect of the proposal, they would want to raise the “lower part of the strike zone to the top of the hitter’s knees.” The lower part of the strike zone, since 1996, has been defined as “the hollow below the kneecap.”
“Data shows that umpires have been increasingly calling strikes on so many pitches below the knees that, if umpires enforce the redefined strike zone, it would effectively raise the zone by an estimated 2 inches,” explained Stark.
The intentional walk modification would get rid of the pitcher throwing four “soft pitches” outside of the strike zone. The team could simply give some sort of signification they want to intentionally walk a batter. This would hopefully “eliminate dead time.”
One of MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred’s to-do list since getting the job was to speed up the game of baseball, or the “pace of action” as he often refers to it as. This has been difficult to do.
Altering a game like this could be a challenge. The intentional walk proposal could be very successful, but don’t expect it to cut a ginormous amount of game time. There were only 932 intentional walks last season, but it seems the commissioner is trying to shed off as much time as possible, even a minute amount.
The altering of the strike zone could change the way the game is played. More action and more base running could be significant. Perhaps making the game more entertaining so you don’t feel as guilty spending over $15 on your beer.
Stark also reports the players seem to be “lukewarm” about the ideas and wanting to revisit them in the future, but are well aware of Manfred’s goals to increase the pace of play.