MLB 2023 Season

[Leonardfan]

Spring training has kicked off. I believe the first exhibition games have started. Some new rule changes this year will have an impact:

- Pitch Clock - pitchers will have 15 seconds with the bases empty and 20 seconds with the runners on. Batters not in the box by the 8 second mark will receive an automatic strike.

- A pitcher is limited to two disengagements, such as a pickoff attempt or step-off, per plate appearance. A third will result in a balk, giving runners a free base. There will be a 30-second clock between batters and a 2 minute 15 second inning break during regular-season games.

- Ban of defensive shifts - All four infielders must have both feet on the infield dirt or grass when the pitcher begins his motion, and each team must have two infielders on each side of second base. A violation results in a ball, or the batting team can let the play stand.

- All three bases were increased to 18 inches square from 15. That will reduce the distance between first and second base, and second and third, by 4½ inches.

It will be interesting to see how these changes play out on the field. With the defensive shifts that became very common over the past 5-10 years due to analytics many would be hits became routine outs. This along with hitters trying to hit home runs rather than play small ball has seen a dip in batting average and many more strike outs. I think that professional hitters should be capable of going to all fields with the ball to combat the defensive shifts, the MLB decided to just ban the shift. Will the pitch clock give an advantage to base runners who might be able to time their stolen base attempts along with the clock?

 

[BeyondFedUp]

Not a huge baseball fan but it seems like the changes to speed things up will rile the purists of the game. I think the mental aspect of timing is part of what makes the game great and is a strategy used by both sides. I don't think that aspect of speeding things up is a good thing for the batters or the fielding team.

 

[Don Wassall]

I like all of them, other than the increased base size which I don't care about. One of the reasons I stopped watching baseball was because the games became soooooo long and boring compared to how long they were historically, and it wasn't only because of the addition of more commercials. Nine inning games should take no longer than two and a half hours at the most.

I feel the same way about college football. Just can't motivate myself to watch a game for four hours. Too many other things to do with my time.

 

[Flint]

It’s a good thing to speed up the game.
So most of the time rules I agree with. But I don’t understand only one pick-off attempt? If this was an era of base stealing that rule could be abused.

I’m not a fan of the ban on the shift as the players could have killed it themselves learning to bunt!

 

[Freethinker]

It’s a good thing to speed up the game.
So most of the time rules I agree with. But I don’t understand only one pick-off attempt? If this was an era of base stealing that rule could be abused.

I’m not a fan of the ban on the shift as the players could have killed it themselves learning to bunt!

Yes, how can a pitcher keep a base runner from getting a huge jump? After using his 1 (or is it 2?) throw(s) / step offs, what can he do? Can the baserunner just start sprinting to 2nd whenever he wants after those options for the pitcher are exhausted?

 

[SneakyQuick]

Well maybe the pitcher will need to conserve his pickoff attempts and do them well.

Personally I’ve always thought pickoff attempts need to be limited.

And just think… if this does usher in more base stealing, then just maybe small ball might return?

 

[Bucky]

The rule changes are ass. Automatic runners on 2nd during extra innings is about as Little League as you can get.

 

[Leonardfan]

The rule changes are ass. Automatic runners on 2nd during extra innings is about as Little League as you can get.

LOL. Yea I do agree the automatic runners rule is awful. I think they put that rule in last year...totally stupid. Might as well put "ghostrunners" on the bases like I did when I was a kid playing baseball with friends.

Curious to see what these new rules have in terms of effect so I won't have an opinion until I see them play out in real time. Maybe the rule changes will cause a return to baseball the way it was intended to be played rather than batters just going up and trying to hit home runs every time. I still think alot of the issue revolves around the way the league pushed home runs as the only thing that matters - sub .250 batting averages - who cares? 100 plus strike outs in a year - who cares? just hit home runs. Hitting is an art and alot of these guys limit themselves by not being able to do anything besides hit home runs.

I'd also be curious to see if any sort of historical analysis was done to see why games were running so much longer than they used too. Is it commercials, batters taking their time in the batters box, more pitching changes, the lost art of small ball and the emphasis on home runs.

 

[white lightning]

The rule changes are ass. Automatic runners on 2nd during extra innings is about as Little League as you can get.

I'm ok with some of them but this is stupid as well as bigger bases. What a joke!

 

[BeyondFedUp]

I'm ok with some of them but this is stupid as well as bigger bases. What a joke!

I do agree with Don about speeding up the game a bit, regardless of whether it's commercials or batters taking too long to get set. However, you're absolutely correct about putting a runner on second during extra Innings being an absolute joke. I really don't understand this but I guess there has to be a method to their madness.

 

[white lightning]

I do agree with Don about speeding up the game a bit, regardless of whether it's commercials or batters taking too long to get set. However, you're absolutely correct about putting a runner on second during extra Innings being an absolute joke. I really don't understand this but I guess there has to be a method to their madness.

Speeding up the game is fine. How about less commercials while were at it? Especially the woke go broke global home blm ones.

I would like to see them ban the intentional walk. I've always hated that since I was a kid. Fans want to see the stars hit & not just get a walk.
It helps the players batting average and puts a man on a base but I've always be against it.

 

[icsept]

I’ve always hated the automatic runner at 2nd base. The “logic” is that the extra inning games will be shorter, but both teams get the same advantage. What’s wrong with playing one or two extra innings and then calling it a tie (in the regular season)?

 

[Flint]

Speeding up the game is fine. How about less commercials while were at it? Especially the woke go broke global home blm ones.

I would like to see them ban the intentional walk. I've always hated that since I was a kid. Fans want to see the stars hit & not just get a walk.
It helps the players batting average and puts a man on a base but I've always be against it.

It would be a waste of time banning the intentional walk. The pitchers would just throw 4 garbage pitches. The old intentional walk ( where the pitcher threw 4 outside pitches to a standing catcher) was a compromise, now they just wave them to first which is the best way to do it.

 

[icsept]

With the departure of Trea Turner to Philadelphia, Gavin Lux was poised to be the Dodgers’ new shortstop. Unfortunately, he just tore his ACL and is out for the season. The Dodgers have lost some key White pieces from last year’s lineup: Cody Bellinger, Justin Turner, Trea Turner, and now Lux.

 

[Don Wassall]

The runner on second base is a pure gimmick, reminds me of the NHL playing 3 vs. 3 in OT, which is gimmicky enough, then going to a shootout as the final tiebreaker, which is even more of a gimmick.

Pro sports get more gimmicky over time, including adding more and more playoff teams, which is mostly a nod to the reduced attention span that's been carefully inculcated in most Americans. And of course there's always more commercials, and the amount of ads and logos seen on the fields of play and even slowly but surely on players' uniforms keeps increasing. I expect within a few years the ice at NHL rinks will be completely covered with nothing but advertising and the players unis will look straight out of NASCAR. Maybe the pucks will emit a red laser light so players and fans can still see it.

Baseball was the last sport to reluctantly part with traditional ways, beginning with going to two divisions in each league in 1969 and then the DH in the AL in '73, but now MLB has more than caught up with its fellow corporate sports in the gimmicks department.

 

[Freethinker]

The automatic runner at 2nd was ushered in under the guise of temporary changes during “Covid times”. Of course it never made sense, as there was no evidence it actually shortens the game since often times both teams just plate that runner and then move on to do it again the next inning.

As far as popularity, anyone I’ve ever talked to about this rule has hated it, yet the rule now stands? Like the way our wicked government never rolls back a “temporary” law or measure, now I guess our sports all leagues are following suit. This seems to be a democratic feature, not a bug.

 

[SneakyQuick]

I always thought that before adding new rules they should enforce the ones they had. Like stepping out of the batter La box and getting called out for instance?

I also think they ban batting gloves and arm protection. Half or more of the bs slowdown is related to phantom re-tightening of these pieces of equipment that frankly were rare even into the mid 80s

Not that I care much about MLB. They went woke and lost me but the game itself needs to be moved along.

 

[booth]

MLB in America has become dependent on foreign players. It will never be the game it was in the 50s through the 80s. This video open my eyes even further than they already were.

 

[Flint]

The way you get good at baseball is playing it for hours on the sandlot. There are virtually no kids in America gathering together to play ball all day long at the park. I have traveled this country extensively and have never, not once in the last twenty years, seen kids playing pick up baseball without an adult.

Parents wouldn't allow it even if the kids wanted to. There is hardly a white mother in the country that lets her precious kids go out alone for any length of time. And who can blame them with the number of sick perverts that lurk in every corner of our nation.

In the Caribbean however kids are free to play ball from sun up to sun down. It's no secret why they are better. Thousands of at-bats and hours of scooping up grounders and shagging flies, compared to the few US kids get at carefully scripted practices.

There are places, mostly in California where kids play a lot of ball in travel leagues, and get excellent coaching. It's a limited group and where most of the good US players come from.
But the numbers are not there.

I also would bet every US MLB player has a brother of a close age because you need some one close to play with to really learn the game.

 

[Freethinker]

MLB in America has become dependent on foreign players. It will never be the game it was in the 50s through the 80s. This video open my eyes even further than they already were.

Interesting video. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Carolina Speed]

Arizona Diamondbacks OF Corbin Carroll is now the MLB's fastest player surpassing the Phillies SS Trea Turner. Carroll just signed his rookie contract. Eight years $111 million. Carroll's dad is white and mother is Asian. Interesting that two honkeys are the fastest players in MLB...and the third fastest might be Royals SS/3B Bobby Witt Jr.
There's still room for American born white players. They'll just have to work a little harder to make it.
Alot of white prospects coming in as well. I'll put those on here asap, unless someone else does.

 

[knightedsoldier5000]

Arizona Diamondbacks OF Corbin Carroll is now the MLB's fastest player surpassing the Phillies SS Trea Turner. Carroll just signed his rookie contract. Eight years $111 million. Carroll's dad is white and mother is Asian. Interesting that two honkeys are the fastest players in MLB...and the third fastest might be Royals SS/3B Bobby Witt Jr.
There's still room for American born white players. They'll just have to work a little harder to make it.
Alot of white prospects coming in as well. I'll put those on here asap, unless someone else does.

Pete Crow Armstrong will be a speedster too

 

[Leonardfan]

Good stuff. Let’s try to get a list together of all the White ball players to watch this year.

 

[knightedsoldier5000]

MLB in America has become dependent on foreign players. It will never be the game it was in the 50s through the 80s. This video open my eyes even further than they already were.

It's just part of the collective dispossession of our nation and heritage. We can't even have our own sports. There are no 'borders' for MLB. Anyone, anywhere in the world can come to america and steal a job as a baseball player from a deserving white or black american kid. And many of the foreigners will cheat their way in with steroids.

How can you inculcate a collective patriotism without national figures to look up to? No, they want us looking up to an INTERnational collective of "heroes" that play sports ball, thus furthering the disharmony and separating us from our heritage and birthright, while promoting the one-world philosophy. Why be proud of my country when my favorite sportsballer is from Venezuela or Mexico, or China?

 

[Freethinker]

It's just part of the collective dispossession of our nation and heritage. We can't even have our own sports. There are no 'borders' for MLB. Anyone, anywhere in the world can come to america and steal a job as a baseball player from a deserving white or black american kid. And many of the foreigners will cheat their way in with steroids.

How can you inculcate a collective patriotism without national figures to look up to? No, they want us looking up to an INTERnational collective of "heroes" that play sports ball, thus furthering the disharmony and separating us from our heritage and birthright, while promoting the one-world philosophy. Why be proud of my country when my favorite sportsballer is from Venezuela or Mexico, or China?

Well said!