Corcoran: What this season can tell us about the effect of the 3-batter minimum rule
From Cliff Corcoran at The Athletic on April 11, 2019:
Since Rob Manfred took over as commissioner of Major League Baseball in January 2015, rule changes have become part of the game’s spring ritual.
In 2015, Manfred began his war on pace-of-play with inning-break clocks and new limits on when hitters were allowed to leave the batter’s box. In 2016, MLB responded to a controversial injury the previous October with a new rule governing slides at second base. In 2017, Manfred instituted no-pitch intentional walks. Last year brought a limit on mound visits. This year, perhaps emboldened by the extension he received from the owners in November, Manfred went even further, announcing a flurry of new rules for the 2019 and 2020 seasons.
This season’s changes include the prohibition of waiver trades after July 31; adjustments to the inning-break clocks, allotted number of mound visits (from six to five), All-Star voting and Home Run Derby prize money; plus the renaming of the injured list. Next year will see active rosters expanded to 26 players and limited to 28 in September, a cap on the number of pitchers allowed on an active roster (along with rules regarding the designation of players as pitchers, position players and two-way players), limits on the situations in which position players can pitch, an increase to the minimum injured-list and minor-league option stays for pitchers, and a three-batter minimum for pitchers.
Read the full article here (subscription required): https://theathletic.com/917663/2019/04/11/three-batter-minimum-rule-coming-in-2020-is-well-intentioned-but-unlikely-to-make-a-difference/
Originally published: April 12, 2019. Last Updated: April 12, 2019.