Major League Baseball’s Competition Committee has agreed to make changes to two of the rules. They are looking into where the strike zone starts and the intentional walks rule, which could be applied at the start of next season.
The strike zone, as it stands now, starts below the kneecap. They want to change it to the top of the hitter’s knee because umpires are calling strikes on numerous pitches below the knees. In theory this seems like a decent idea. Batters and pitchers would have a better sense of where the strike zone is. According to ESPN, Mets second baseman Neil Walker was in favor of this saying, “I think if you ask hitters, most of the complaints they would have would be about low strikes. They’re probably the hardest to call for umpires, and catchers have gotten so good at presenting them.”
In reality it might not change anything. Umps would have a better idea where the strike zone starts but if a ball is questionable they still might call it a strike. That is the human error in this game. Umpires aren’t going to be perfect so we will still see missed calls with balls and strikes. Those called balls would equal more base runners from walks and shortening the strike zone should lead to more hits.
MLB wants to modify how teams call for an intentional walk. The rule right now is a pitcher has to throw four balls outside the strike zone. MLB wants to modify this so a signal for the batter to be intentionally walked would be given to the umpire and the batter would run to first base. This would be in hopes of speeding up the game.
MLB would miss scoring opportunities if this were to pass. When a player is intentionally walked the pitcher could throw a wild pitch or issue a balk. If a base runner is on base they could move up a base or even score. The pitcher could also accidently throw the ball over the plate and lead to a hit. Baseball should keep the intentional walk rule as it stands today.
These ideas will need to be passed by the MLB baseball rules committee. Once they approve them, they will become effective next season. This could be part of the negotiations for a new labor agreement. The current one is set to expire on December 1, 2016.
What do you think of the proposed new rules to MLB?
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