Baseball fans tired of line drives flying into the glove of an infielder positioned in the outfield, listen up: The first step toward banning the shift will be taken this spring.
Major League Baseball will use the minor leagues as a vehicle to experiment with a variety of rules that could eventually change how games are played at the big league level.
Teams will be required to have a minimum of four players on the infield.
A pitch-clock will be used.
Say hello to the robotic strike zone and a limit on pick-off moves.
To promote more stolen base attempts, larger bases will be stuff into the infield dirt.
Chicks may dig the long ball, but baseball does not. Not when the most common alternative is a strikeout. Over the past several seasons, homeruns, strikeouts and walks are up; league batting average is down.
Baseball’s single greatest concern is not pace of play – it’s the amount of time between action.
Simply put, baseball wants the ball in play.
So go ahead and remove “pace of play” from your vernacular.
Baseball is hell-bent on improving the “quality of entertainment”.
